Papia was born on 1 March 1967 in
Domar,
Nilphamari subdivision,
Rangpur district,
East Pakistan (now
Bangladesh). She belongs to the Ashrafi family, a
Bengali family of
Muslim Syeds from the village of Gopalpur in
Lalpur,
Natore. Due to the career of her father, Syed Muhammad Ashrafi, within the
Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation, she spent her childhood in various parts of
North Bengal. When her father transferred to Thakurgaon Sugar Mill, she studied in a school in
Thakurgaon for 9 months. In 1974, she enrolled at the North Bengal Sugar Mill High School where she completed her
Secondary School Certificate in 1983. She passed her
Higher Secondary Certificate from Gopalpur College in 1986. She graduated with
Bachelor of Arts in Social Science and
Bachelor of Laws from the
University of Rajshahi. ==Career==