Asia Bibi, who is a married5 mother of two,1 in her 30s,5 worked as a field laborer5 in the village of Ittanwali3,4 in Punjab4 province, and had been under pressure from some Muslim co-workers to leave Christianity and convert to Islam.1,3,4,5
On June 19, 2009,3,5 while working in the fields,4 female co-workers called her an “infidel”3 and Christianity a “religion of infidels”,3 and pressed her to convert to Islam.3 Bibi, who has a strong faith4 responded by saying Christianity was the only True religion3 and that Jesus died on the cross for their sins and asked what Muhammad, the founder and prophet of Islam, had done for them.1,5 This reply enraged5 the Muslim women who then beat her.1
She was then either, locked up in a room by some men who then began broadcasting on the local mosque public address (PA) system plans to blacken her face and parade her through the village on a donkey, while a mob of villagers and Muslims clerics beat her two daughters,5 or she fled to her home where she was followed and beaten and her daughters tortured.3 Two other Christian families also lived in the village5 and either some of them5 or someone else3 informed the police and she was arrested.
Pressure from local Muslims leaders1 lead the police to charge her with blasphemy for insulting Muhammad under section 295-B and C of Pakistan Penal Code,3 which carries a sentence of death or life in prison.3 Bibi denies the charges and said instead that she was being persecuted for her religion.2
The trial lasted over 16 months4 and she was found guilty on November 7 5 in the town of Sheikhupura2 and sentenced to death in the first ever such sentence for a woman.5 She was also fined £728, which is around two and a half year's wage for an unskilled laborer.5 Bibi can appeal the sentence but it may take years before her case is heard.4
In a similar case, another Christian, Martha Bibi, is currently on trial for blasphemy in Lahore, after getting into a dispute with builders in Kasur.1,5
Release International, a Christian organization working for persecuted Christians worldwide, said the blasphemy law is easily4 open to abuse for vengeance,5 and Pakistan Christian Congress has called on the government to repeal it.3
Sources: 1. Christian Today (Australia), 2. Daily Telegraph (UK), 3. Pakistan Christian Post, 4. 5. Release International
UPDATE: A second article on this story has been posted here. Later reports claim Aisa Bibi is be 45-years-old and that she has at least 3 and up to 5 children.
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