A Pakistani Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy after making derogatory remarks about Islam to her Muslim neighbours has
lost her appeal to have the decision overturned.
In 2010, Asia Bibi got into a dispute with neighbours and co-workers after they objected to her drinking water from their glass because she was not Muslim.She was later reported for defiling the name of the prophet Mohammed during the argument and became the first woman to be sentenced to death under Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy law.
According to Mailonline,two prominent politicians who tried to help Ms Bibi were assassinated, one by his own bodyguard.Lawyers showered the killer with rose petals when he appeared in court and the judge who convicted him of murder had to flee the country.
Mrs Bibi – a farm worker from rural Punjab – last year released a memoir called ‘Blasphemy’, the New York Post reported.She described how she has no idea how long she has left to live.
Talking about how she ended up in her position, she says:
‘I drank water from a well belonging to Muslim women, using ‘their’ cup, in the burning heat of the midday sun.’I, Asia Bibi, have been sentenced to death because I was thirsty. I’m a prisoner because I used the same cup as those Muslim women, because water served by a Christian woman was regarded as unclean by my stupid fellow fruit-pickers.’
In the book, Mrs Bibi describes how she ended up in this desperate situation on June 14, 2009 after going fruit-picking in the blazing sun.Dripping with sweat as midday approached, she decided to head towards a well for a drink of water.The woman shouted out, telling all of the fruit pickers that the water in the well had been dirtied because Mrs Bibi drank from their cup.
After being told by the angry fruit-pickers to convert to Islam to redeem herself, Mrs Bibi decided to stand up to the crowd and defend Christianity.But after she was pushed and shoved by the group Mrs Bibi ran home. Five days later, while fruit picking in another field, things became much worse.
She was suddenly attacked by an angry crowd who accused her of insulting the Prophet Mohammed.She was eventually taken battered and bruised to the village imam and told she can redeem herself only by conversion to Islam or otherwise die.She refused to convert but begged the crowd for mercy, insisting that she did not insult their religion.
They accused her of lying and repeatedly beat her until two policemen took her to a police station.
That day she was thrown into a prison cell and has remained locked up ever since.