Pakistan: Eight-year-old Hindu boy becomes youngest person charged with blasphemy

The boy’s family is in hiding and many of the Hindu community in the conservative district of Rahim Yar Khan, in Punjab, have fled their homes after a Muslim crowd attacked a Hindu temple after the boy’s release on bail last week.

Troops were deployed to the area to quell any further unrest, reports The Guardian.

Interestingly, the Hindu boy has become the youngest person in the country to be charged with blasphemy.

The boy is accused of intentionally urinating on a carpet in the library of a madrassa, where religious books were kept, last month. Blasphemy charges can carry the death penalty, reports The Guardian.

So far, 20 people have been arrested as suspects of attacking the temple, media reports said.

Speaking from an undisclosed location, a member of the boy’s family told The Guardian: “He [the boy] is not even aware of such blasphemy issues and he has been falsely indulged in these matters. He still doesn’t understand what his crime was and why he was kept in jail for a week.

“We have left our shops and work, the entire community is scared and we fear backlash. We don’t want to return to this area. We don’t see any concrete and meaningful action will be taken against the culprits or to safeguard the minorities living here," the family member said.

Legal experts have been left surprised after the boy was charged with blasphemy.

Ramesh Kumar, a lawmaker and head of the Pakistan Hindu Council, told The Guardian: “The attack on the temple and blasphemy allegations against the eight-year-old minor boy has really shocked me. More than a hundred homes of the Hindu community have been emptied due to fear of attack.”

Kapil Dev, a human rights activist, told the newspaper: “I demand charges against the boy are immediately dropped, and urge the government to provide security for the family and those forced to flee.”