The Karachi police on Thursday arrested a woman over allegation of desecrating the Holy Quran and lodged a case against her under the blasphemy law.

Bilal Colony Station House Officer (SHO) Ahmed Nawaz told Dawn.com that he was patrolling the area when he received information that a woman had allegedly burnt a copy of the Holy Quran on the main road near Sector 5-E in the New Karachi locality.

“When I rushed to the spot, I saw a significant number of people gathered around the suspect while two women had gotten a hold on her.

One of the women, Iram Asif, told the police that she was in a rickshaw when she saw the woman torching the Holy Quran’s copy on the main road. “She got hold of Quran and also snatched a knife that the suspect was carrying in another hand,” the officer said.

Nawaz added that when the suspect was brought to the police station, a mob gathered outside, however, the police prevented the situation from deteriorating.

Nothing concrete can be said about state of mental health of the suspect and the matter is under investigation, he told Dawn.com.

Later, Nawaz said that the suspect was a resident of the Dadu district. “In a phone call, her husband said that his wife is emotionally disturbed and has been getting treatment.”

A first information report (FIR) has been registered against the woman on behalf of state through the police officer.

According to the FIR, nothing was found from the suspect during search. It added that the copy of the Holy Quran which was given to the police by Asif was burnt from para one to three.

The complaint invokes section 295-B (injuring or defiling place of worship, with intent to insult the religion of any class) of the Pakistan Penal code.