A 17-year-old Christian who has been incarcerated for 16 months for charges in three blasphemy cases will spend Christmas in jail, but he obtained bail in one of the cases, sources said.
Akash Karamat, a class nine student in Sargodha, Punjab Province, remains in jail, but the bail decision on Thursday (Dec. 19) gives him and his family hope that bail will be granted in hearings in the other two cases, which could take place in January and February, his attorney said.
The bail was granted in the most serious case, whose charges carry a mandatory death penalty and life imprisonment, said attorney Asad Jamal.
Akash was arrested on Aug. 27, 2023, and charged under various sections of the blasphemy laws in the three cases. He belongs to a poor family and was coerced into recording a confession by the police, Jamal said.
“Karamat and his co-accused, Zimran Asim, were implicated falsely in all the three cases,” Jamal told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “Asim has already been freed on bail in all three cases, and we believe that Karamat will also get justice.”
Akash’s father, Karamat Masih, said the bail had brought the family “their first good news in a year.”
“We’ve suffered a lot since the time police arrested Akash on these false charges,” Masih said. “I used to earn a livelihood for the family through my tailoring shop, but after Akash was arrested, we were forced to close it down and leave our home to save ourselves from violence. We’ve been surviving hand-to-mouth since then.”
For the Masih family, this Christmas has brought hope that their son will be reunited with them soon.
“The bail hearing for the other two cases will likely be fixed in January 2025, and we are very hopeful that God will deliver Akash from this unjust incarceration,” he said, asking for prayer for his son’s release.
Akash was accused of writing blasphemous posters and desecrating the Quran in areas of Sargodha, allegedly in retaliation for the Aug. 16, 2023, Muslim mob attacks on multiple churches and homes of Christians in Jaranwala, Faisalabad District, after two Christian men were accused of committing blasphemy.
He was charged under Section 295-C of the blasphemy statutes relating to disrespect of Islam’s prophet, which carries a mandatory death penalty; Section 295-B pertaining to desecration of Quran, punishable with life imprisonment; Section 295-A, prescribing imprisonment of up to 10 years for hurting religious sentiments; and Section 298-A, which carries a maximum punishment of 10 years in prison for disrespecting the wives and companions of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam.
“There was stiff opposition to the bail request from lawyers of the Khatm-e-Nabuwwat Forum [Movement for Finality of Prophethood],” Jamal told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News.
The attorney said his arguments for bail were based on a statutory limit of six months for a juvenile to be detained under the Juvenile Justice System Act 2018, as well as a limit of one year before a suspect must be released under Section 497 of the Criminal Procedure Code. He also argued that there were no reasonable grounds to keep Akash behind bars, and that the case was one of further inquiry.
There are several defects in the case registered against Akash, he said.
“Firstly, he was declared a juvenile after a lapse of one year, even though the police had access to his educational documents and official birth certificate from the onset of the case,” Jamal told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “Secondly, the Juvenile Justice System Act 2018 requires submission of the social background report of the accused at the time of submitting of the chargesheet, but the police have to date not submitted that report despite repeated court orders.”
There is no direct evidence against Akash, he said.
“The testimony of one witness who claims that he saw Karamat pasting the alleged blasphemous poster outside a house is clearly an afterthought because he did not report him to the police immediately after the incident,” Jamal said. “The alleged incident took place on July 16, 2023, whereas Karamat was taken into custody on Aug. 27, 2023, but his formal arrest was shown on Sept. 10, 2023.”
He said the judge also noted the inordinate delay in incriminating Akash in the incident. Jamal said the Punjab Forensic Science Agency had also given a report in Akash’s favor, because the handwriting found on a note found with desecrated pages of the Quran did not match that of the suspect.
Pakistan ranked seventh on Open Doors’ 2024 World Watch List of the most difficult places to be a Christian, as it was the previous year.
