The family of Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian who has been on death row for almost five years after being accused of blasphemy, said they are constantly living in hiding and receive various threats because of Bibi's case.
"We get death threats," Ashiq Massih, husband of Bibi, said about himself and his five children in an interview with BBC. "We can't stay in one place for very long."
"We live in hiding. It's very hard especially for the children. They can't settle down or study," he added. "It's not a normal life to be constantly living in fear."
Bibi was first arrested in 2009 after she got into an argument with Muslim women regarding sharing the same drinking water. This resulted in the Muslim women filing blasphemy charges against her for insulting Muhammad, Islam's prophet. If the death sentence remains upheld, Bibi will be the first woman in history to be legally executed under Pakistan's blasphemy laws.
Many "vigilante mobs" often react to blasphemy cases by taking matters into their own hands. Bibi's 14-year-old daughter, Esham, told BBC that her mother was attacked by a mob days after she was accused of blasphemy.
"They went to fields and beat her and tore her clothes. They beat her in front of us," Esham said.
"We were crying, begging them to let her go and stop hitting her. They did that for almost one hour," she continued. "They also hit me when I tried to defend her."
Esham said that at the time she could not understand why this was happening to her mother, and was told later that it was about blasphemy.
"I try to forget the way she was beaten and tortured that day," Esham said.
Her case drew international attention when two politicians who defended her – Punjab governor Salman Taseer and minorities minister Shahbaz Bhatt – were assassinated in 2011 after they spoke out for reforms on the blasphemy laws in the country.
Pastor Arif Khokar, who has led a small Christian congregation for years in Punjab, told BBC that he was wrongly accused of burning pages of the Koran after getting into an argument with a neighbor.
"I felt like I was going to have a heart attack," he said. "I panicked when the police told me. I never thought this could happen to me."
Most blasphemy cases result in the death penalty, but Pastor Khokar's case had a different outcome. He is now on bail, and though he has not been attacked his family lives in fear every day.
"We know the punishment of this accusation and what happens to people - especially Christians. We live under so much tension," he said.
http://www.christiandaily.com/article/family.of.imprisoned.pakistani.christian.asia.bibi.says.they.live.in.fear.receive.threats/49802.htm
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