Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. Pakistani Christian Woman Acquitted of Blasphemy Conviction Reportedly Leaves Country by VOA News A Pakistani Christian woman who faced execution for blasphemy against Islam has reportedly left the country. News of Asia Bibi's departure was reported Wednesday by various Pakistani news outlets, while Reuters says it has learned from her lawyer, Saif Ul Malook, that she has left for Canada, where her family has been granted asylum. Bibi's ordeal began in 2009, when she was accused of committing blasphemy and using defamatory language about Islam's Prophet Muhammad when she got into an argument with some Muslim women while working in a field in Punjab. The argument ensued when the women refused to drink out of the water bowl Bibi had touched because she was a non-Muslim. She was tried and condemned by a trial court the next year. She was freed last year after Pakistan's Supreme Court upheld its decision in 2017 to overturn her conviction, rejecting a petition brought by hardline Islamic leaders. The court's initial ruling overturning her original sentence sparked violent protests across Pakistan led by the hardline Islamic political party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP). Two prominent Pakistani politicians were gunned down after they demanded reform to the country's controversial blasphemy laws following Bibi's death sentence, including Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab province, who was killed in 2011 by his bodyguard. Bibi has been in hiding since her release due to the threats on her life.