Christian woman in Pakistan facing death penalty over a cup of water
ASIA Bibi has spent almost a decade in prison.
The
Christian woman was sentenced to death in Pakistan for insulting the
Prophet Muhammad during an argument with a group of field workers.
Over the years her case has garnered global attention, with even former Pope Benedict XVI calling for the charges against her to be dismissed.
Today her lawyer says her final appeal will be heard by the Supreme Court.
HOW ONE SENTENCE LANDED A WOMAN IN PRISON
Aasiya Noreen “Asia” Bibi is a mother-of-five from Ittan Wali, a small rural village in central Pakistan.
In her biography, Blasphemy: A Memoir, Bibi describes the moment that would radically alter her life forever.
On June 14, 2009, she set out to the fields near her house to take part in a berry-picking harvest, for which she would be paid 250 Pakistani rupees for a day’s work — the equivalent of just under $2.
She described a climate of open hostility towards her from the women she worked with, because she was part of the country’s Christian minority, which makes up less than 2 per cent of Pakistan.
Around midday, dehydrated and sweltering in the sun, Bibi walked to the nearby well to have a drink of water.
But after she refilled the bucket a second time, a woman screamed:
According to Bibi’s account, the shouter then turned to the dozen other women working in the fields and said:
The argument intensified, with the women calling on Bibi to convert and “redeem herself”.
It was one sentence she fired back with that would seal her fate:
After this, Bibi said the women started screaming, spitting at her and physically assaulting her. She ran home in a fright.
Less than a week later, she went fruit-picking in another field when she was confronted by a rioting crowd, led by the woman who had initially shouted at her.
The crowd surrounded her, beat her and took her to the village, screaming: “Death! Death to the Christian!”
The village imam said:
She protested:
Bibi
was taken to the village police station, covered in blood, where police
interrogated her and put a report together. She was then put into a
police van and taken straight to prison.
She has been in that cell ever since.
According to the BBC, not even reports of inconsistent witness testimony could save her. When she was found guilty in November 2010, crowds gathered to celebrate her sentencing.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO ASIA BIBI?
Bibi, 47, has already received one stay of execution from the Supreme Court, after lower courts rejected her appeals.
If the appeal fails, she will become the first woman in Pakistan to be executed for blasphemy.
Bibi’s case has sparked widespread outrage in the international community over Pakistan’s notorious blasphemy laws.
But the global movement to abolish the laws has fallen on deaf ears.
Between 1987 and 2014, over 1300 people have been accused of blasphemy. According to the BBC, Muslims make up the majority of those booked.
Since 1990, more than 62 people have been killed in the wake of blasphemy allegations, according to a Pakistani human rights group.
What constitutes blasphemy can include spelling errors by children, or discarding a business card with the name “Muhammad” on it.
Speaking out against the laws can also have fatal consequences. In 2011, Salman Taseer, the then-governor of Punjab, was murdered by his bodyguard after he attempted to get clemency for Bibi.
The bodyguard, Mumtaz Qadri, was executed five years later.
Bibi says she is the “victim of a cruel, collective injustice”.
Over the years her case has garnered global attention, with even former Pope Benedict XVI calling for the charges against her to be dismissed.
Today her lawyer says her final appeal will be heard by the Supreme Court.
HOW ONE SENTENCE LANDED A WOMAN IN PRISON
Aasiya Noreen “Asia” Bibi is a mother-of-five from Ittan Wali, a small rural village in central Pakistan.
In her biography, Blasphemy: A Memoir, Bibi describes the moment that would radically alter her life forever.
On June 14, 2009, she set out to the fields near her house to take part in a berry-picking harvest, for which she would be paid 250 Pakistani rupees for a day’s work — the equivalent of just under $2.
She described a climate of open hostility towards her from the women she worked with, because she was part of the country’s Christian minority, which makes up less than 2 per cent of Pakistan.
Around midday, dehydrated and sweltering in the sun, Bibi walked to the nearby well to have a drink of water.
But after she refilled the bucket a second time, a woman screamed:
Don’t drink that water, it’s haram!
According to Bibi’s account, the shouter then turned to the dozen other women working in the fields and said:
Listen, all of you, this Christian has dirtied the water in the well by drinking from our cup and dipping it back several times. Now the water is unclean and we can’t drink it! Because of her!
The argument intensified, with the women calling on Bibi to convert and “redeem herself”.
It was one sentence she fired back with that would seal her fate:
What did your Prophet Mohammed ever do to save mankind?
After this, Bibi said the women started screaming, spitting at her and physically assaulting her. She ran home in a fright.
Less than a week later, she went fruit-picking in another field when she was confronted by a rioting crowd, led by the woman who had initially shouted at her.
The crowd surrounded her, beat her and took her to the village, screaming: “Death! Death to the Christian!”
The village imam said:
I’ve been told you’ve insulted our Prophet. You know what happens to anyone who attacks the holy Prophet Mohammed. You can redeem yourself only by conversion or death.
She protested:
I haven’t done anything. Please, I beg you, I’ve done nothing wrong.
She has been in that cell ever since.
According to the BBC, not even reports of inconsistent witness testimony could save her. When she was found guilty in November 2010, crowds gathered to celebrate her sentencing.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO ASIA BIBI?
Bibi, 47, has already received one stay of execution from the Supreme Court, after lower courts rejected her appeals.
If the appeal fails, she will become the first woman in Pakistan to be executed for blasphemy.
Bibi’s case has sparked widespread outrage in the international community over Pakistan’s notorious blasphemy laws.
There is overwhelming evidence that Pakistan’s blasphemy laws violate human rights and encourage people to take the law into their own hands, Amnesty International director of global issues Audrey Gaughran said.
Once a person is accused, they become ensnared in a system that offers them few protections, presumes them guilty and fails to safeguard them against people willing to use violence.
But the global movement to abolish the laws has fallen on deaf ears.
Between 1987 and 2014, over 1300 people have been accused of blasphemy. According to the BBC, Muslims make up the majority of those booked.
Since 1990, more than 62 people have been killed in the wake of blasphemy allegations, according to a Pakistani human rights group.
What constitutes blasphemy can include spelling errors by children, or discarding a business card with the name “Muhammad” on it.
Speaking out against the laws can also have fatal consequences. In 2011, Salman Taseer, the then-governor of Punjab, was murdered by his bodyguard after he attempted to get clemency for Bibi.
The bodyguard, Mumtaz Qadri, was executed five years later.
Bibi says she is the “victim of a cruel, collective injustice”.
I’ve been locked up, handcuffed and chained, banished from the world and waiting to die. I don’t know how long I’ve got left to live, her biography reads.
Every time my cell door opens my heart beats faster. My life is in God’s hands and I don’t know what’s going to happen to me. It’s a brutal, cruel existence.
But I am innocent. I’m guilty only of being presumed guilty. I’m starting to wonder whether being a Christian in Pakistan today is not just a failing, or a mark against you, but actually a crime.
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