Christian farm labourer and mother of five children, Asia Bibi, from Ittanwali in Punjab province, has been sentenced to death for blasphemy – the first woman ever to receive this sentence for blasphemy in Pakistan.

Asia received the death sentence last Monday (8 November) at the end of a trial lasting more than 16 months, during which time she was held in isolation in prison. Asia was also fined the equivalent of two-and-a-half years’ salary for the average worker.

No one sentenced to death for blasphemy in Pakistan has ever been executed – most are freed on appeal – but about ten people have been murdered while on trial. Asia could spend years in appalling conditions on death row, and if she appeals to the High Court, it may take years before her case is heard.

Police filed a case against Asia in June 2009 after local Muslims accused her of making derogatory comments against the prophet Mohammed. The court in Sheikhupura, near Lahore, heard that Asia had been working in the fields with other women when she was asked to fetch drinking water. Some of the others – all Muslims – refused to drink the water as it had been brought by a Christian and was therefore “unclean”. This sparked a row about religion, during which Asia refused to recant her faith in Jesus. It was reported that she had been under pressure from her fellow labourers to convert to Islam.

The incident seemed to have been forgotten, until a few days later, when Asia and her daughters were attacked by a mob of local villagers and Muslim clerics. The police were called and took Asia to a police station for her own safety.

Shahzad Kamran, of Sharing Life Ministry Pakistan, said: “The police were under pressure from this Muslim mob, including clerics, asking for Asia to be killed because she had spoken ill of the Prophet Mohammed. So after the police saved her life they then registered a blasphemy case against her.” He went on to say, “The trial was clear. She was innocent and did not say those words.”

Asia’s husband, Ashiq Masih, said he did not have the heart to break the news to two of their children. “I haven’t told two of my younger daughters about the court’s decision,” he said. “They asked me many times about their mother but I can’t get the courage to tell them that the judge has sentenced their mother to capital punishment for a crime she never committed.”

Asia’s conviction could set a dangerous precedent. Another woman, Martha Bibi, is currently on trial for blasphemy in Lahore. She was charged in 2007, after a dispute with builders who allegedly refused to return equipment belonging to her.

The blasphemy law is often used to discriminate against religious minorities in Pakistan. Ali Hasan Dayan, of Human Rights Watch, said the blasphemy law is out of step with rights guaranteed under Pakistan’s constitution and should be repealed. “It’s an obscene law,” he said. “Essentially the blasphemy law is used as a tool of persecution and to settle other scores that are nothing to do with religion. It makes religious minorities particularly vulnerable because it’s often used against them.” (Release International, The Telegraph)