Reports of Asiya Bibi leaving Pakistan 'false, baseless'

Pakistan's Foreign Office on Sunday refuted social media reports of Asiya Bibi, the Christian woman, who was acquitted by the Supreme Court for blasphemy charges last month, of leaving the country.

Terming the reports as "false and baseless", a spokesperson for the Foreign Office said, "Asiya Bibi has not left Pakistan and she is in the country," Geo News reported.

Last week, the Foreign Office had dismissed reports of Asiya and her family leaving Pakistan.

On November 7, Asiya was released from a women's prison in Multan after the completion of all formalities by the jail administration. However, speculations were rife that she had left the country soon after she was released from prison.

On October 31, mass protests had erupted in various parts of Pakistan after the country's top court acquitted Asiya pertaining to a blasphemy case.

A three-judge special bench headed by Justice Nisar, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa and Justice Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel heard Asiya's 2014 appeal against her conviction and death sentence and overturned the ruling in favour of her.

Asiya was convicted and sentenced to death in 2010 for allegedly insulting Islam during an argument with three Muslim women.

Meanwhile, Asiya's lawyer, Saif-ul-Mulook, who fled Pakistan, following threats to his life told CNN last week that an asylum application was filed in the Netherlands for Asiya and her family, and the same was submitted to the authorities.