Christian schoolgirl Faryal Bhatti was expelled from her school in Pakistan after an innocent spelling mistake led to an accusation of blasphemy. The grade eight pupil (aged 12/13) in Havelian, Abbottabad, was scolded and beaten by her teacher on 22 September when she accidentally misplaced a single dot in a word while answering a question on a poem about Muhammad; her error turned the word naat, which refers to praise of Muhammad, to laanat, which means “curse”.

As news of the incident spread, enraged Muslims rallied in the streets, demanding that Faryal be expelled from the area and a criminal case be registered against the youngster. Defiling the name of Muhammad carries a mandatory death penalty under Pakistan’s “blasphemy laws”. In their Friday sermons Muslim leaders also called for action to be taken against Faryal and her family.

Despite her apologetic explanation that the misspelling was an error with no malicious intent, Faryal was expelled from her school, and her mother, a nurse, was transferred to another hospital around 40 miles away. The family have also been forced to leave their home. They have received threatening text messages, raising fears of Muslim reprisals among other Christian families in the area. A number of Muslim leaders have, however, come out in defence of the youngster, saying that she should be pardoned because her actions were unintentional.     

Source: Barnabas Fund, October 3rd, 2011