Aasia Bibi’s sister held for husband’s murder

Younus Masih was found dead with his throat slit in a field in Khanpur

SHEIKHUPURA: Police on Wednesday arrested 28-year-old Najma Bibi, the sister of Aasia Bibi who was acquitted by the apex court in a blasphemy case in 2018, and an alleged accomplice on the charges of murdering her husband in Khanpur.

Younus Masih, 52, was found dead with his throat slit in a field on Monday. He worked at the mansion of a landlord.

The Indian media had linked the murder to the blasphemy allegations against Aasia Bibi, who is living abroad after her acquittal. In its report, India’s NDTV painted the incident as a case of communal violence.

However, Younas’ family informed the police that Najma was having an extramarital affair with a man named Irfan Dogar. They murdered Younas after he found out about their affair.

Younas belonged to Mananwala and had settled in Khanpur for work along with his wife and two children, a 14-year-old daughter and a 12-year old son.

Sheikhupura DPO Ghazi Muhammad Salahuddin assigned the case to Factory Area SHO Muhammad Afzal Dogar and Sub-Inspector Wali Hasan Pasha.

Despite her ordeal, Aasia Bibi wants to see the day when she can go back to Pakistan

The police arrested Najma and Irfan and they confessed to their crime during interrogation.

Aasia Bibi was convicted in 2010 of passing derogatory remarks about Islam after neighbours working in the fields with her objected to her drinking water from their glass because she was not a Muslim. She spent eight years on death row. She was released in October 2018 after the top court overturned her conviction, saying there were "glaring and stark" contradictions in the case against her.

She left Pakistan for Canada in May 2019. Earlier this year, Aasia was invited to live in France after a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.

Despite her ordeal, Aasia said she still felt positive about Pakistan and hoped to return there one day.

“It was my country that freed me. That makes me proud,” she said.

“I left of my own volition because I was in danger there. Anything could have happened to me at any point. So that’s why I left my country. But I have the same love for my country in my heart now. I still respect my country and I want to see the day when I’m able to go back.”

She also recalled the time when she heard that the two politicians who were helping her – Salmaan Taseer and Shahbaz Bhatti – had been murdered.

“I cried a lot. I cried for more than a week for them. Even today, my heart is full of sadness for them and I miss them,” she said.

However, Aasia says she feels no bitterness to those who wanted to see her dead.

“I’m not angry at all, I’ve forgiven everyone from my heart and there is no hardness in me, there is patience in me because I learned how to be patient after having to leave my children behind,” she said.