Extremists accuse mentally ill Christian of blasphemy

Lahore, Pakistan: June 30, 2011, (PCTV Newsdesk)

His relatives fled the area after the mob threatened to harm them. They remain in hiding. Neighbours told Babber’s brother, Amjad Masih, that they too had come under pressure from Muslim clerics to testify against Babber.

“These neighbors were of the opinion that they could not refuse to give evidence after the Muslim clerics forced them, telling them that they were coming out of the mosque after prayer when Babber Masih used abusive language against the prophet Muhammad,” Amjad Masih said. “They told me, ‘It is such a sensitive matter that we could not refuse.’”

According to Amjad, Babber has been mentally ill for the last six years. His mental illness makes him prone to fits of rage.

Locals say Babber was walking past the Canal Mosque as the mosque leader was coming out and that Babber was looking up as he shouted names and insults at the Prophet Muhammad.

“When I reached home I saw a large number of Muslim clerics that had gathered outside our house,” said Amjad. “I believe they had come from other cities, because I cannot identify them and they were not of our area.”

When he asked the crowd why they had gathered, the clerics told him that Babber had been using insulting language against Muhammad – a crime punishable by death in Pakistan.

According to older brother James Masih, neighbours feared Babber would be killed by the clerics unless the police were brought in. Babber has been charged with blasphemy under Section 298 and 298-A of the Pakistan Penal Code. These sections outlaw statements that would wound religious feelings, and the use of derogatory remarks against Muhammad.

He has since been held in Sahiwal Central Jail, where he has been seen by human rights representatives. According to Khurram Shehzad Maan, an attorney at the European Center for Law and Justice office in Pakistan, the person who registered the case was not the cleric who saw Babber blaspheming but rather a dairy farmer, Zeeshan Arain, who lives on the same road as Babber.

He believes that Section 84 of the Pakistan Penal Code exonerates Babber because it removes the criminality from actions committed by people of unsound mind.

As such, Maan believes that the police should have sought to confirm Babber’s insanity and send him to a mental institute instead of filing a First Information Report against him. “Babber never meant to injure feelings of any Muslims,” he said.

At a meeting, local Muslim elders declared that they did not want Christian families to return to the region. The Masih family has also been advised by neighbours not to return home yet. Please pray for them as they deal with this difficult situation. 
“I want to go back home,” said Amjad. “We have business there, and we don’t want to leave the place, but we fear that the people will attack us. We do not have any idea how to respond in this situation.”

 

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