A Pakistani court has given bail to a young Christian girl, who was arrested after being falsely implicated in a blasphemy case by the cleric of a mosque in Islamabad.

The court of the Additional District and Sessions Judge, where a two-and-a-half-hour-long hearing this morning was marked by noisy arguments between the lawyers of both sides, announced its verdict on the bail petition of Rimsha Masih just now.

The lawyer of the man who accused Rimsha of blasphemy said her counsel had not submitted key documents in court. On the other hand, the police officer investigating the case told the judge that several witnesses had testified before a magistrate that she was falsely implicated due to evidence planted by Khalid Chishti, the imam of the mosque.

Chishti was arrested last week after a man testified that he had seen the cleric stuffing pages of the Quran in the bag belonging to Rimsha. The bag originally contained only some other papers and ashes. Rimsha was arrested on August 16 after an angry mob surrounded a police station and demanded that action be taken against her.