DARK AGES
Boy, 8, ‘faces DEATH PENALTY’ for weeing on his school’s carpet after becoming youngest person charged with blasphemy
AN eight-year-old boy has become the youngest person to be charged under Pakistan's notorious blasphemy laws.
The youngster was accused of urinating on the floor of a religious school and the charges he faces can carry the death penalty.
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He is a member of the country’s Hindu minority living in a conservative district in the Punjab province and his family have fled their home.
A Muslim crowd in the area after the boy’s release on bail last week but he is now in protective custody.
A family member told the youngster “is not even aware of such blasphemy issues”.
“He still doesn’t understand what his crime was and why he was kept in jail for a week,” said the family member, whose name has been withheld for their own protection.
“We have left our shops and work, the entire community is scared and we fear backlash. We don’t want to return to this area.”
Pakistan’s blasphemy laws were brought to international attention with the case of Asia Bibi, a Christian mum-of-four who spent a decade on death row after being convicted of insulting Islam.
'HE DOESN'T UNDERSTAND'
Critics say cases are often cover for persecution of religious minorities and involve trivial disputes between them and the predominantly Muslim population.
Last year Christian Asif Pervaiz, 37, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani court, seven years since he first entered custody.
In February, a Christian nurse was reportedly tied up, stripped and tortured by a mob inside a hospital in Pakistan after a Muslim colleague falsely accused her of blasphemy.
According to human rights campaigners Amnesty International the “have been used to target some of the most vulnerable people in society, including children”.
The charges against the boy have shocked legal experts, who say the move is unprecedented.
“The attack on the temple and blasphemy allegations against the eight-year-old minor boy has really shocked me,” said Ramesh Kumar, a lawmaker and head of the Pakistan Hindu Council.
SHOCKED
“More than a hundred homes of the Hindu community have been emptied due to fear of attack.”
There are 80 people in prison in Pakistan for the crime of “blasphemy”, with at least half of them facing the death penalty or life sentences, according to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.
Even Pakistan’s Supreme Court has acknowledged that “the majority of blasphemy cases are based on false accusations” and are driven by ulterior motives.
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Prime Minister Imran Khan condemned the attack on the Hindu temple Twitter.
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He said he’s ordered the provincial police chief to take action against any officers whose negligence may have contributed to the attack.
Police have since arrested 50 people suspected of ransacking the temple and were searching for another 100 suspects.
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