Asia Bibi and her husband had been in protective custody since she was freed from prison in October, and there were fears for her health and safety.

The Church in Chains group has organised the vigil to highlight the “dreadful injustice” to Asia Bibi who is “still effectively a prisoner”, and that her life and that of her family are “in grave danger”.

According to the Church in Chains Global Guide, the situation is noticeably worsening in India as Hindu extremists attack churches in rural areas every week and under President Xi’s religious clampdown in China.

“There is now clear evidence that this genocide includes assassinations of Church leaders; mass murders; torture; kidnapping for ransom in the Christian communities of Iraq and Syria; sexual enslavement and systematic rape of Christian girls and women; forcible conversions to Islam; destruction of churches, monasteries, cemeteries, and Christian artifacts; and theft of lands and wealth from Christian clergy and laity alike.”