Asia Bibi was reported in 2009 by women who alleged that she had insulted Islam during a discussion near a well in the province of Punjab

Somewhere in Islamabad, Asia Bibi is believed to be at a safe house, technically a free woman, but in fear for her life. But she is well used to that cloying sense of dread.

During her eight years in jail, every time the door to her cell opened, she feared someone had come to kill her.

Now she still needs protection after religious extremists threatened to kill her.

Violent protests following her release brought Pakistan to a standstill and even her lawyer fled Pakistan last weekend after also receiving death threats.

The story of this farm labourer casts a deeply uncomfortable spotlight on Pakistan and attitudes towards Christians.

It is almost eight years ago to the day since Mrs Bibi was convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to death by hanging.

The Roman Catholic, 53, lived with her husband Ashiq Masih, a labourer, in Ittan Wali, a rural village in Punjab province.

Mr Masih had three children from a previous marriage and the couple had two children of their own. Life was tough and Mrs Bibi could not read or write.

Her ordeal began in June 2009 when she went out to pick berries on a farm with some other women, who were Muslim.

A row broke out when Ms Bibi went to fetch some water in a bucket and the other women refused to drink from it after being told by one woman that it was 'haram', Islamic for forbidden by God.

Prosecutors alleged the women said Mrs Bibi should convert to Islam and she made offensive comments about the Prophet Muhammad in response.

Five days later, a 200-strong mob surrounded her while she was out fruit picking and accused her of insulting the Prophet Muhammed. She says she was told to convert to Islam or die. When she refused, the mob set upon her and she was beaten with sticks and spat at.

Supporters of the Pakistani religious Islamist group Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal gather during a protest rally against the release of Asia Bibi on Thursday

The arrival of the police, who arrested Mrs Bibi, almost certainly saved her life. She was sentenced to hang on November 11, 2010 by a Pakistani court in Nankana district in Punjab Province.

A couple of weeks later, her husband said he and his children had been forced to flee from their home. They were spending a few weeks at a time in safe houses in Christian enclaves.

'I am frightened that they will come and beat us and kill us,' said Mr Masih. 'I keep getting phone calls from people with hidden numbers asking where I am and whether they can meet me. But I know what they want – they want us dead.'

Mr Masih said his wife was struggling to cope with the death sentence. 'She had been very strong in prison,' he said.

'She is different now. She is mentally stressed. She is very scared for her life and for the life of her family.' In January 2011, the then governor of the Punjab, Salmaan Taseer, was murdered by his bodyguard, Mumtaz Qadri, after he attempted to gain clemency for her.

In an interview she gave to Life for All, a Christian organisation, from jail in December 2011, she said: 'I am allowed to go out for only 30 minutes every day and allowed to meet my family for one hour every Tuesday.

Ms Bibi spent eight years in solitary confinement on charges of blasphemy after being accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammad

'I am given raw material to cook for myself, since the administration fears I might be poisoned, as other Christians accused of blasphemy were poisoned or killed in the jail.' She said a guard had been suspended for trying to kill her.

At the time, Mrs Bibi said: 'I am hopeful that I will be released although there is a bounty of about $8,000 (£5,100) offered by the Islamic clerics to anyone who will kill me.'

Her family and human rights groups continued to campaign and her case has been supported by the Vatican.

But in 2014, an appeal was quashed by Lahore High Court amid reports that Mrs Bibi's health had deteriorated. And, at the end of last month, Pakistan's Supreme Court overturned the conviction.

In response, thousands of protesters took to the streets. In an apparent act of appeasement, the government agreed a deal with Islamic parties to begin proceedings to put Mrs Bibi on a no-fly list.

But she and her family are desperate to leave and find a safe sanctuary abroad.