Security concerns: Aasia Bibi shifted to Multan women’s jail

Blasphemy accused was vulnerable to militant attacks in Shiekhupura prison.

MULTAN:

As DI Khan’s jailbreak raises concerns about the overall security at the country’s prisons, there is one prisoner who fears for her life more than ever: Aasia Bibi, a blasphemy accused.

She was shifted to the Multan women’s prison amid high security on Wednesday, sources told The Express Tribune.

Even within the jail, she has been kept in a separate cell. She will be allowed out of her cell for only two hours daily. And during this time no other inmate will be allowed to walk around the prison, sources said. Round-the-clock security has been ensured at her cell.



Sources said that after the DI Khan jailbreak Aasia, 32, faced death threats. They added that the Shiekhupura jail, where Aasia was kept earlier, was vulnerable to a DI Khan jail siege-like attack. Keeping Aasia in that prison could also put the lives of other inmates at risk, they added.



Officials revealed that Aasia faced threats from not only militants but also from within the prison.

As a precautionary measure the security of the prison was upgraded before Aasia was shifted. Sources said that the prison security would be at high alert while Aasia is let out of her cell. Death threats for people accused of blasphemy have recently increased over the past few months.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 1^st, 2013.