LAHORE, Feb 3: The challan of the case registered against a Christian woman by Changa Manga police under blasphemy charges has already been completed and sent to a Kasur court for trial, says police.

Martha Bibi (40) from Kot Nanak Singh village, Changa Manga, was arrested and sent to jail after the registration of a case against her under Section 295-C on the complaint of co-villager Muhammad Dilbar on Jan 22.

Martha was accused of committing blasphemy against Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) near a mosque on the morning of Jan 22. But her relatives said she had gone there to collect rent of the wooden planks she had rented out for the under-construction mosque but had a quarrel with a woman who concocted the blasphemy story to teach her a lesson.

“The challan was completed on Jan 27 after the SP investigation probed the case on Jan 24,” Changa Manga police station duty officer ASI Muhammad Iqbal told this reporter during a visit to the place on Saturday.

On the contrary, complainant Muhammad Dilbar, eye-witness Muhammad Ramazan and others said police had never contacted them after the registration of the FIR.

Dilbar and Ramazan, however, claimed that police had been secretly visiting the village, around a kilometre from the police station. “Today, they also came here,” they said, repeating that none of them were approached for investigation.

ASI Muhammad Iqbal said the case was registered by his colleague duty officer Umer Farooq under direction from the Kasur DPO immediately after the receipt of the complaint on the night of Jan 22. Prior to that, SHO Reza Shah had visited the village and brought the accused to the police station after assessing the allegations against her, he said.

Accused Martha Bibi was sent to the Kasur jail after her production before a magistrate whom the DPO had contacted the same night. “Now the case has been completed and sent to the Kasur district and sessions judge for trial,” ASI Iqbal said.

He said submission of the challan meant that the accused had been found guilty during investigation.