Why she was sentenced to hang
THE case of Asia Bibi sparked worldwide condemnation after she became the first woman to be sentenced to death under Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy laws.
The Christian farmhand allegedly insulted the name of the Prophet Mohammed in June 2009, after having an argument with her Muslim fellow workers over a cup of water while picking berries.
The family were the only Christians in their village in the Sheikhupura district of Punjab. Mrs Bibi was quickly jailed and then tried and found guilty of blasphemy – the first woman this century to be found guilty of this crime. In November 2010 a judge sentenced her to death by hanging, which caused an international uproar. Since then, she has endured eight years on death row, including four in solitary confinement in Sheikhupura prison where she has lived in terrible conditions.
Last October she was freed on appeal because of insufficient evidence – but her life and her family’s lives have continued to be in danger.