Asia Bibi, also known as Aasiya Noreen, is a Pakistani Christian woman whose prosecution under Pakistan's blasphemy laws became an internationally recognized legal and religious controversy. The case began in June 2009 after a dispute involving drinking water between Bibi and Muslim women with whom she was working in a field in Punjab. Bibi was subsequently accused of making derogatory remarks about the Islamic prophet Muhammad, a charge she denied.
On June 14, 2009, Bibi was working as a farm laborer in Itan Wali village in Sheikhupura District, Punjab. According to the account presented in her appeal, she fetched water and offered it to two Muslim women working with her. The women refused to drink the water, saying that because Bibi was Christian they would not take water from her hand. A heated argument followed.
The precise words exchanged during the argument became the central factual dispute in the subsequent criminal case. The women later alleged that Bibi had made blasphemous statements concerning Muhammad. Bibi denied making the statements and maintained that she had been falsely accused following the disagreement over water.
The dispute was reported to local religious authorities and police. A criminal case was registered against Bibi under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code, the provision concerning derogatory remarks about Muhammad. She was arrested and remained in custody while the case proceeded through the Pakistani court system.
The water dispute itself was specifically addressed in the later Supreme Court proceedings. Bibi's defense argued that the women had refused water because she was Christian and that the argument that followed was subsequently used to falsely implicate her. The Supreme Court judgment records this version of events as part of Bibi's appeal.
In November 2010, a trial court in Nankana Sahib
