11 year old Christian girl with Downs Syndrome charged with blasphemy in Pakistan

The British Pakistani Christian Association brings regular news of the plight of persecuted Christians in Pakistan and the solidarity of British Pakistani Christians with their brothers and sisters at home. Many of the stories are quite disturbing and should be more widely known. Yesterday there was a report of what the blog rightly calls a "new low": the arrest of a Downs Syndrome girl for blasphemy.

Muslims in a Christian area of Islamabad found copy of the Quran was found with some of its pages burned. The BPCA points out that such burnings nearly always turn out to have been done by Muslims, or by mentally unstable people. In this case, Rimsha Masih, an 11 year old Christian girl with downs syndrome was been arrested and charged with the crime last Friday.
The police have rejected approaches by human rights workers and are presuming the guilt of this little girl. They have no regard for that fact that she is a minor or that she has Downs Syndrome.

There are some news reports to be found on Indian and Pakistani news services but this outrage seems to have escaped the notice of our media. It is up to bloggers to make a fuss, so do pass on this news if you can.

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