Pakistan: Interim charge-sheet against teenage blasphemy suspect filed

The suspect was being charge-sheeted as enough evidence was found against him during the investigation conducted so far, the statements of witnesses and available documentary material.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | Int'l Desk
Source/Credit:Daily Dawn | Newspaper
By Ishaq Tanoli | March 12, 2011

KARACHI, March 11: Police have submitted an interim charge-sheet against a teenage blasphemy suspect before a judicial magistrate stating that findings about the suspect’s mental condition and the report of a handwriting expert are still awaited.

The suspect, Syed Samiullah, has been booked in a case for allegedly making some blasphemous remarks in answer sheets of his intermediate examination in April last year.

The investigation officer of the case, Additional Superintendent of Police Misal Khan, submitted the interim charge-sheet under Section 173 of the criminal procedure code in the court of a judicial magistrate through the district attorney.


The magistrate accepted the interim charge-sheet and directed the IO to complete the investigation and file
the final charge-sheet till March 14.

According to the interim charge-sheet, the controller of examination of the Board of Intermediate Education, Karachi (BIEK) in his written complaint stated that during the assessment of the scripts of students who appeared in the first year science group annual examination 2010, it was reported by Professor Hafiz Syed Ziauddin, a lecturer at the Government College of Commerce and Economics and a co-examiner, that the suspect appeared in the exam vide Roll No 725604 and wrote some derogatory remarks.

It further stated in the complaint that other scripts of the student were also checked which revealed that he had made extremely derogatory remarks in both the scripts. In the complaint it was said that the remarks of the student were not worthy of being reproduced as this may amount to blasphemy and the police were requested to register an FIR and take legal action against the student, the charge sheet said.

After getting a no-objection certificate from the court, it added that the IO took the custody of the suspect from the juvenile section of the Karachi Central Prison for the purpose of interrogation, inspected the place of the incident, took the documents — answer sheets, written complaint of the BIEK, copy of enrolment card, written apology of the suspect (sent to the BIEK), forwarding memo for script and other memos — from the first IO of the case.

The IO collected a writing sample from the suspect before the court and sent it to the handwriting expert along with the copies of the answer sheets for analysis. He also recorded the statements of prosecution witnesses under Section 161 of the CrPC.

An uncle of the suspect submitted some copies of medical reports and claimed that the suspect was mentally ill; therefore a letter was sent to the police and a surgery and medical examination of the suspect was conducted in the psychiatry ward of the Civil Hospital Karachi by Dr Raza Rahman who said that the suspect “can be admitted in jail ward of CHK under the care of psychiatry ward”, it added.

The IO also wrote in the charge-sheet that he made a request to the court concerned for shifting of the suspect from prison to the hospital for the purpose of a proper medical examination.

The suspect was being charge-sheeted as enough evidence was found against him during the investigation conducted so far, the statements of witnesses and available documentary material, but the reports of medical examination to determine the suspect’s mental condition and handwriting expert had not yet been received and the court might grant time for submission of the final charge-sheet, it concluded.

The investigation officer placed 16 prosecution witnesses in the charge-sheet.

Initially, a case (FIR 56/11) was registered at the Shahrah-i-Noorjahan police station and it was investigated by a sub-inspector of police. The prosecution team of district central returned the charge-sheet filed against the suspect and observed that it was mistakenly mentioned in the charge-sheet that the alleged crime was committed within the remit of the Shahrah-i-Noorjahan police station. In fact, the prosecutors said the examination centre of the suspect was situated within the jurisdiction of the Sharea Faisal police station, and further pointed out that no police officer below the rank of a SP was authorised to investigate such a case.

Thereafter, a new case (FIR 165/2011) was registered against the suspect under Section 295-C (use of derogatory remarks in respect of the Holy Prophet) of the Pakistan Penal Code at the Sharea Faisal police station and the investigation of the case was assigned to an additional SP.

The 17-year-old suspect was picked up by police from his home in Mujtaba Town, Malir, on Jan 28 and the following day, a judicial magistrate sent him to the juvenile section of the Karachi Central Prison on judicial remand. On Feb 24, after obtaining an NOC, the present IO took the custody of the suspect from prison for the purpose of interrogation. Later, he was again sent to prison.


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