Karachi government school principal and peon accused of burning Islamiat textbooks freed of blasphemy charges

What happened: On Feb 8, sessions court cleared a government school headmaster, Javed Akhtar and a peon, Muhammad Shahid Khan of all charges related to a blasphemy case filed against them in 2018 which accused them of burning Islamiat textbooks of class IV and V. Back story: According to the prosecution, plaintiff Muhammad Jahangir was passing by the Govt Badri School with his granddaughter on Aug 5, 2018 when he witnessed Akhter and Khan burning Islamiat textbooks. He went on to say that he tried to prevent them from doing so while locals gathered and began beating the accused, who managed to flee. Details: Dr Shabana Waheed, Additional District and Sessions Judge (Central), recently reserved her judgement after hearing evidence and final arguments over the course of a three-year trial. The prosecution had failed to substantiate the charge against the accused, according to the judge.  The witness: Dr. Waheed pointed out that during his cross-examination, complainant Jahangir, the prosecution’s star eyewitness, clearly confessed that “during the time of the fire, I myself did not observe any religious book other than papers that were being set on fire by the accused men.” Final verdict: The judge stated in her final verdict: “In my honest judgement, the prosecution’s evidence is highly untrustworthy and insufficient to base a belief on it for recording a conviction on a capital charge.”

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