A Pakistani court on Monday adjourned by another four days possible bail for a Christian girl accused of blasphemy in a case that has sparked international criticism.Judge Muhammad Azam Khan has repeatedly delayed bail proceedings for Rimsha Masih, who was arrested last month accused of burning papers containing verses from the Quran in breach of Pakistan's blasphemy laws, punishable by death. Khan on Monday again put back the hearing until September 7 following a request from a lawyer representing Rimsha's original accuser, neighbour Hammad Malik.
| Khan really, really doesn't want to die... |
Rimsha's lawyer said the case against his client had collapsed.
'The prosecution has completely failed. There is nothing left in this case now,' Raja Ikram, a lawyer representing Rimsha, told reporters after the adjournment.
On Saturday, police arrested the cleric who originally submitted the burnt papers after his deputy and two assistants said he tampered with the evidence. They said Hafiz Mohammed Khalid Chishti planted pages from the Quran among the burnt pages brought to him by a witness to beef up the case against her.
| The whole point is to keep the Christians in their place. How that happens is less important... |
'Rimsha must be released now. The evidence has been proved false so there is no reason to keep her behind bars any more,' Shamaun Alfred Gill, a spokesman for the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance (APMA) told AFP.
According to a medical report, Rimsha is around 14 years old with a mental age below her true age, but some reports say she suffers from Down's Syndrome.