Accused of insulting Prophet Mohammed, Christian woman to die by hanging

“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”.

Those words belong to a Pakistani Christian woman who has been sentenced to death after she was accused of making 'blasphemous' comments about the prophet Mohammed.

Her road to deathrow started in 2009 when she was working as a berry picker on a farm.

According to MailOnline, Bibi, got into an arguement with a group of Muslim women who objected to her drinking their water because as a Christian she was considered 'unclean'.

She had, in a memoir released last year, narrated how she was rejected and insulted because she was a Christian. She said that when she could no longer bear the insults that came with the constant calls for her to convert to Islam, she decided to face the crowd and defend her faith.

When she was almost beaten up, she fled, but when she returned to work five days later, she was accused of having spoken ill of the Prophet Mohammed.

Reports said she was beaten black and blue and dragged to the local Islamic teacher who told her the only way she could redeem herself was to become a Muslim. Her family had to flee the community after several threats to their lives.

In November 2010 Ms Bibi, who hailed from rural Punjab, was sentenced to death in a Sharia law court, on the grounds of blasphemy. After launching an appeal with the international rights community wading in, she was made to languish in the high-security District Jail Seikhupura, 22 miles north-west of Lahore, before being moved to a more remote prison.

This week, she lost the appeal to have her sentence overturned. She now faces death by hanging.
Two prominent politicians who have tried to help her have been assassinated.

Pope Benedict XVI had publicly called for clemency for Ms Bibi, describing his 'spiritual closeness' with her and urging that 'human dignity and fundamental rights of everyone in similar situations' be respected.