Convictions are common, although the death sentence has never been carried out. Most convictions are thrown out on appeal, but mobs have killed many people accused of blasphemy.
Masih's case has raised a high level of concern because of her age and media reports that she suffers from Down's Syndrome.
Some reports have said she is 11. A hospital said in a report she was about 14 but had the mental capacities of someone younger, and was uneducated.
Christians, who make up four percent of Pakistan's population of 180 million, have been especially concerned about the blasphemy law, saying it offers them no protection.
Convictions hinge on witness testimony and are often linked to vendettas, they complain.
In 2009, 40 houses and a church were set ablaze by a mob of 1,000 Muslims in the town of Gojra, in Punjab province. At least seven Christians were burned to death. The attacks were triggered by reports of the desecration of the Koran.
Two Christian brothers accused of writing a blasphemous letter against the Prophet Mohammad were gunned down outside a court in the eastern city of Faisalabad in July of 2010.
Masih's arrest triggered an exodus of several hundred Christians from her village after mosques reported over their loudspeakers what the girl was alleged to have done.
In the village, many Christian homes -- crude cement structures along crowded, dusty alleys -- are still padlocked.
A few Christians have returned but are reluctant to discuss Masih's case, saying it was up to the courts.
"We are poor people. What can we do?" said one, Mahmood Masih, adding that he was not scared of his Muslim neighbors.
Muslims in the village, where mangy dogs sniffed through piles of garbage near goats as an ice cream seller pedalled by on his bike, were far more vocal.
"If the cleric gets charged in this case we are all behind him. There will be unrest," warned Tasleem Maqbool, a woman in a black veil who said her daughter saw Masih throwing away trash that included burned religious materials.
Village clerics like Chishti hold far more sway over Pakistanis than government officials. They lead prayers and give guidance on many aspects of life.
"The cleric should be freed," said Noman, a 12-year-old boy wearing a t-shirt and shorts as bearded men gathered at the village mosque and barefoot children played nearby.
"She (Masih) should be punished."
(Additional reporting by Aisha Chowdhry; Editing by Daniel Magnowski)
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