A Christian woman who was given the death penalty last year for drinking water from a well reserved for Muslims in Pakistan has had her appeal against the sentence rejected by the Lahore high court.
by, Oliver Lane | Breitbart | h/t Mark BroadbentBreitbart reported on the original case last year, which arose after Aasiya Noreen, a fruit picker, stopped to refresh herself during the course of her day’s work. After she was caught drinking from the same cup used by Muslim women, the well was declared “Haram”, and Noreen was beaten for the offence, before being arrested.
At the time of her conviction, Noreen said: “I 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”.
It was alleged during the altercation following the water incident, Noreen made negative comments about Islam. Noreen has defended her innocence in the five years since, insisting her comment went no further than “I think Jesus would see things differently than Mohammed”, and her lawyer has argued the charge arose because of “personal enmity” towards the defendant, rather than a genuine grievance, reports the Independentnewspaper.
None of the original witnesses were present in court to testify, but a Muslim “prayer leader” (Imam) who claimed Noreen, an unrepentant Christian, had confessed the crime to him, did. When the Lahore court delivered its verdict to maintain the death penalty in this case, Noreen and her defence team reacted with shock. Her lawyer promised to keep fighting: “I was expecting the opposite decision. We will file an appeal to the Supreme Court of Pakistan in a few days”.
Read this article at - http://shariaunveiled.wordpress.com/2014/10/19/pakistan-court-upholds-death-sentence-against-christian-woman-who-allegedly-drank-water-from-a-well-reserved-for-muslims/
