Christian woman sentenced to death in Pakistan [November 11 2010]

A Pakistani court has sentenced to death a Christian mother of five for blasphemy, the first such conviction of a woman and sparking protests from rights groups today. Asia Bibi, 45, was sentenced Monday by a local court in Nankana district in Pakistans central province Punjab, about 75 kilometres (47 miles) west of the countrys cultural capital of Lahore.

Pakistan has yet to execute anyone for blasphemy, but the case spotlights the Muslim countrys controversial laws on the subject which rights activists say encourages Islamist extremism in a nation wracked by Taliban attacks. Bibis case dates back to June 2009 when she was asked to fetch water while out working in the fields. But a group of Muslim women labourers objected, saying that as a non-Muslim, she should not touch the water bowl.

A few days later the women went to a local cleric and alleged that Asia made made derogatory remarks about the Prophet Mohammed. The cleric went to local police, who opened an investigation. She was arrested in Ittanwalai village and prosecuted under Section 295 C of the Pakistan Penal Code, which carries the death penalty. Sentencing her to hang, Judge Naveed Iqbal "totally ruled out" any chance that Asia was falsely implicated and said there were "no mitigating circumstances", according to a copy of the verdict seen by AFP.