Girl accused of burning Quran remanded in prison

The Christian girl who was arrested in Pakistan for burning the pages of Quran was produced in court on Friday. She will remanded in prison for a further two weeks.

Rimsha Misah, aged 11 years was accused of blasphemy and has been held for a fortnight. The girl appeared before a district court in Islamabad on Friday. The judge is due to decide whether to free her and is considering a medical report that concluded Rimsha was 14, but had a mental age considerably lower and should be treated as a minor.

The punishment for blasphemy is death in Pakistan, however Human rights activists say the law is frequently abused and used to persecute religious minorities.