15-year-old Birmingham schoolgirl arrested for burning a copy of the Qur'an

A 15-year-old girl has been arrested on suspicion of inciting religious hatred after allegedly burning an English-language version of the Qur'an – and then posting video footage of the act on Facebook.
The teenager, from the Sandwell district of Birmingham, was filmed on her school premises burning the book.
Police have confirmed the incident was reported to the school and the video has since been removed from the social networking site.
A 14-year-old boy was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of making threats on Facebook. Both teenagers have been released on police bail.

The incident comes just two and a half months after six people were arrested after filming themselves dousing a Qur'an with fuel and setting it ablaze behind a pub in Tyneside.
It is believed the girl was allegedly filmed setting the book alight while other pupils looked on. Two Facebook profiles have also been removed from the site.

It is understood that the group who published the version of the Qur'an that was set alight has visited the school to talk to pupils.
This recent spate of Qur'an burnings follows Florida pastor Terry Jones's incitement of people to burn copies of the holy book to commemorate the victims of 9/11.

He eventually backed down from his threat to burn 200 copies of the Qur'an after he was told US soldiers serving in Afghanistan would be put at greater risk by his actions.
Speaking about the latest incident in Birmingham, a spokesperson for West Midlands police said: "A 15-year-old girl was arrested on Friday 19 November on suspicion of inciting religious hatred. She has been bailed pending further enquiries.

"A second 14-year-old boy was arrested on Tuesday 23 November on suspicion of making threats over Facebook. He has also been bailed pending further enquiries.
"The local neighbourhood team have strong links with the school and have been working closely with key partners from the community and the local authority to resolve the matter locally."

Catherine Heseltine, chief executive officer of the Muslim public affairs committee, said burning the Qur'an was one of the most offensive acts to Muslims she could imagine.
"The Qur'an is the most sacred thing to over a billion Muslims worldwide. You can see that in the way Muslims treat the Qur'an, washing before touching it, and in many Muslim homes you will find it on the top shelf above all other books, and we will never destroy the Qur'anic texts."

"We believe it is the word of God. God's guidance for us in this life," she added.
Bob Badham, Sandwell council's cabinet member for education, said he had visited the school and believed the atmosphere was generally good among pupils, and
he did not believe there was a deeper problem in the area.

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