Christians, Muslims cleared of ‘hurting religious feelings’

DAMURHUDA, Bangladesh — A court in Bangladesh on Aug. 11 exonerated two Christians, along with four Muslim friends, accused of “hurting religious sensibility.”

Nurul Islam, another Christian and their Muslim friends were cleared of the charge after police failed to provide documentation of any evidence against them, an attorney said.

In March, Christians under the direction of the Way of Peace movement had arranged a two-day health camp offering free treatment to poor villagers in Damurhuda area in Chuadanga district, some 126 miles northwest of Dhaka.

Two of the Christian organizers and their Muslim friends were arrested March 24 under Section 54 of the penal code, a special power granted to police to arrest anyone on any suspicion.

Police are required to submit a primary investigation report within 15 days of the beginning of prosecution, and when they failed to do so, the Christians were released at a hearing April 10.

Police again filed a case April 13, however, charging them with “hurting religious feelings” of area Muslims as a Japanese doctor had offered Bibles to patients at a health camp.

The Japanese volunteer doctor offered Christian leaflets and Bibles to the patients, telling them they were under no obligation to take the literature, one Christian said.

The foreign doctor was not named in either of the cases. Lawyer Aksijul Islam Ratan said police had harassed his clients from the beginning, saying officers rather than any known victim filed the case as plaintiff.

“The police harassed them from the very beginning and what the police did was excessive,” he said. “Again police could not show relevant documents regarding their charge. So the honorable court did not take the charge into cognizance and discharged my clients.”