KARACHI: A teen faces at least two more weeks in custody for alleged blasphemy after prosecutors demanded that police reinvestigate the case at a more senior level, officials said on Friday. In a case condemned by rights activists, Samiullah was arrested on January 29 after writing an allegedly blasphemous comment in a school exam, the latest incident highlighting the country’s blasphemy laws that liberals want to reform.
Although the privately educated 17-year-old Muslim apologised to the exam board, the apology was not accepted and the matter reported to police. But when police finally filed their report, prosecutors sent it back on the grounds that it was submitted in the wrong administrative district of the city and conducted by an unqualified police officer.
A police official said the report would be re-submitted in 14 days. “The boy will remain in judicial custody until then,” he said. “Many police officials are not educated in understanding legal procedures and such problems emerge from time to time,” the police official added.
