Rimsha Masih Case: Cleric’s acquittal ‘disappointing’, says Tahir Ashrafi

Ashrafi says it is quite alarming that Chishti has been acquitted.

LAHORE: Pakistan Ulema Council Chairman Allama Hafiz Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi said that he was disappointed to see the acquittal of a cleric who was booked in the Rimsha Masih case.

The court on Saturday acquitted Hafiz Muhammad Khalid Chishti, the cleric who had accused Rimsha Masih of desecrating the Quran.

The girl was arrested last year but later the case was quashed. Rimsha along with her family was shifted to Canada.

Tahir Ashrafi also said that Chishti should be given punishment by the court and it was quite alarming that he has been acquitted.

He said Chishti who levelled allegations against innocent Rimsha has disturbed the entire Muslim community.

Chishti, the peshimam at a mosque in Mehrabadi slum, had accused Rimsha, who is reportedly suffering from Down’s syndrome, of burning pages from the Holy Quran in August 2012. The local police had registered a case against her and she was subsequently detained for three weeks in Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail.

The teenage girl was, however, declared innocent by the Islamabad High Court.

During the trial, the witnesses went back on their statements, telling the court that the police had ‘coerced’ them into testifying against Chishti. The case was pending before the court since October 2012, while the cleric was on bail.