Pakistan teen booked for 'blasphemous' text messages

Police in Pakistan have registered a case against a Christian teen for allegedly sending blasphemous text messages, officials said Friday. Neighbours ransacked the home of Ryan Stanten, 17, and his mother in Pakistan's biggest city of Karachi over allegations that he had defamed the Prophet Mohammed, and police said they registered the case to calm tempers. Stanten and his mother have vanished, senior police official Shahid Hayat told AFP. He said the boy had forwarded the allegedly blasphemous text messages to neighbours, who in anger barged into the home, ransacking and setting fire to furniture. "After people's anger, a police team reached there. They calmed them down, saved the house from further damage and registered a blasphemy case against the boy," Hayat said. Blasphemy is hugely sensitive in Pakistan, where 97 percent of the population is Muslim, and a conviction can result in life imprisonment or the death penalty. The harsh blasphemy legislation came under the spotlight in August when a Christian girl was detained for three weeks for allegedly burning pages from the Koran.