Asia Bibi: sentenced to death over a cup of water

Asia Bibi was kept in solitary confinement on death row after being convicted of blasphemy in Pakistan over an argument about a cup of water. Now, after her acquittal eight years later, she is in fear for her life. The Guardian’s Memphis Barker and Harriet Sherwood trace the story back to the original incident on a farm in 2009. Plus: Zoe Williams on why a housing market crash would benefit no one

The story of Asia Bibi has split Pakistan and brought global attention to the country’s strict blasphemy laws. In 2009, the Christian fruit picker got into an argument with her Muslim colleagues that resulted in her arrest and conviction for blasphemy. She spent eight years on death row before her conviction was overturned in Pakistan’s supreme court, but she remains in protective custody, in fear for her life.

The Guardian’s Memphis Barker and Harriet Sherwood join Anushka Asthana to trace the story from the fields of a small village near Lahore to solitary confinement on death row and explain why the case has had such a profound effect on modern Pakistan.

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