LAHORE, June 24: The Lahore High Court on Tuesday granted bail to a woman who had been implicated in a blasphemy case after allegedly being raped by a police officer.

The petitioner had moved the LHC following the cancellation of her bail application by the trial court. While granting her bail against a bond for Rs30,000, the court ruled that being a woman, the petitioner deserved relief under Section 497 of the CrPC, and there was nothing on record suggesting that her physical custody was required by the police for investigation purposes.

The petitioner’s counsel, Pervez Aslam Chaudhry, submitted to the court that the victim was picked up by ASI Bashir Ahmad of the Nawankot Police Station on Oct 17, 2002, and raped by him. To conceal his crime, the ASI allegedly implicated the victim in a blasphemy case under Section 295-B along with a non-existent Haji Iftikhar who, according to the counsel, was never arrested or interrogated.

As alleged in the FIR by ASI Bashir, he was patrolling the Nawankot area when he saw both the accused desecrating the Holy Quran.

The counsel claimed that on the orders of a judicial magistrate, a medical examination of the victim was conducted, which confirmed that certain injuries were inflicted on her. The police allegedly misplaced the medical results confirming the rape.

“This is the first ever blasphemy case in which the complainant is a police officer. Section 196 of the CrPC requires that only a representative of the provincial or federal government is entitled to get a blasphemy case registered,” Mr Chaudhry argued.

He maintained that the victim was a sane Muslim, who could not be expected to indulge in a blasphemous act. According to the counsel, marks of injuries on her body had further weakened the prosecution’s story.

Lastly, he argued that a single bench of the LHC had granted bail to another woman accused of blasphemy last month, and the petitioner’s case was no different.