PESHAWAR, July 12: A police investigation into alleged desecration of Holy Quran in Nowshera Cantonment area suggests that the accused, Yousaf Masih, is innocent and that his act was unintentional. Official sources told Dawn that the investigation team had reached the conclusion that it was an error on the part of Yousaf Masih and he was not aware that papers with verses of the Quran were in the garbage which he had set on fire. A senior police official said they would submit a charge-sheet in the court in Nowshera soon and they would recommend that man be absolved of the charges.
“The law is very clear on this issue. When criminal intention of an accused is not proved he cannot be punished for an offence,” said the police official.
The incident, which occurred on July 28 in the Lal Kurthi area of Nowshera Cantonment, sparked violent protest resulting in the ransacking of a Balmeek temple and homes of some members of the minority community in the area.
Masih was arrested the said day and he was sent to judicial lock-up the following day by a judicial magistrate. At present he is in the Peshawar Mental Hospital, adjacent to the central prison.
The accused is in his late 50s and has been suffering from some hearing impairment. He also has a history of mental ailment and police have confirmed that his MRI was conducted by a doctor a few years ago.
The case was investigated by SP (Investigation) Ghulam Mohammad and supervised by the DIG Mardan range, Dr Suleman.
An official privy to the investigation said it had been proved that the accused had collected some papers carrying verses of the Holy Quran and handed them over to the people of the house. “If he had any intention of sacrilege he would never have given the papers to the inmate of the house,” the official added.
On the day of the incident the services of Masih had been hired by Ms Farida, a health professional working in the Nowshera CMH, who had rented that house. She had asked Masih to clean the place so that she could move there. Masih collected the garbage and set it on fire. Some people in the locality claimed that they saw him setting some pages of the Holy Quran on fire.
Masih is charged under section 295-B of Pakistan Penal Code, which states: “Whoever wilfully defiles, damages or desecrates a copy of the Holy Quran or of an extract therefrom or uses it in any derogatory manner or for any unlawful purpose shall be punished with imprisonment for life.”
The police official said that the section 295-B PPC clearly stated that only wilful desecration of the Quran was a crime.
The source claimed that the investigation team had also recorded statement of Ms Fareeda, which proved that Masih had handed over some pages of the Holy Quran.