Pakistani Christian Sentenced to Death for Blasphemy

Wednesday, November 10th, 2010 VOA News A Pakistani court has sentenced a Christian woman to death for blasphemy.

Asia Bibi, a mother of two, was sentenced in Punjab province this week. She has been jailed since June of 2009, when she got into a religious debate with a group of Muslim women in the village of Ittanwali.
The villagers, who worked as farm laborers with Bibi, claim that she defamed the Prophet Muhammad during the argument. Bibi denies this.

The Christian woman told the court the Muslim villagers were pressing her to accept Islam, and that she is being persecuted because of her religion.

Officials with Christian and human rights groups have expressed shock at the death sentence. The groups have launched an online petition calling for Pakistan’s blasphemy laws to be repealed.

Posted by David Wood