A Christian woman charged with blasphemy has escaped jail for taking a dog into a mosque, the latest religious case to draw headlines in Indonesia, the world’s biggest Muslim-majority nation.
The case of Suzethe Margareth, 52, sparked outrage last summer, when a video emerged showing her in a mosque in Bogor, near the capital, Jakarta, wearing shoes and letting her dog run loose.
Dogs are considered impure in Islam and wearing shoes is forbidden in a mosque.
A Bogor court on Wednesday ruled that Margareth was guilty, but decided not to impose a prison term because she has paranoid schizophrenia.
Prosecutors had demanded a nine-month jail term.
Margareth testified that she went into the mosque because she was being chased and heard voices in her head saying that her husband was getting married there.
Her lawyer welcomed the decision, saying that her condition was clear from the way she spoke.
However, mosque representative Ruslan Suhady slammed the mental health defense.
People with mental illnesses “usually roam on roads naked. This woman wore neat clothes,” he said.
The dog reportedly died soon after being hit by a car.
It was the latest in a string of controversial blasphemy cases in Indonesia, where rights groups have long campaigned against laws they have said are frequently misused to target religious minorities.
Blasphemy convictions can result in up to five years in prison.
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