Police officials in the Pakistani province of Punjab have confirmed the untimely and brutal death of a young lady who was burned to death by some unnamed four suspected men.
The police said 18-year-old Maria Abbasi died in hospital on June 1, after sustaining almost 90% of burns on her body. Maria is said to be a schoolteacher in Murree, a town about 50 kilometers away from the capital, Islamabad.
According to the account of the story, narrated by a family source, Maria had received a marriage proposal from a certain man. However, Maria made it known that she was not interested in the man’s proposal. This did not go down well with the man, who it is alleged organized some men to physically assault the young lady on May 30.
The attackers reportedly monitored Maria closely until they realized she was alone in the house before carrying out their heinous crime. It is reported they severely beat her, then drenched her in petrol and set her body ablaze before exiting the house.
When her family’s attention was drawn to the incident, they rushed back to the house only to find her in a very critical condition. They struggled before getting access to take the young lady to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad, where she later died.
“Maria was at home baby-sitting her 5-year-old sister while her family went to a funeral in a nearby town. At the funeral her family was alerted that she ‘was on fire.’ Initially the thought was there had been some sort of accident, perhaps a pipe had burst or something,” CNN quoted Maria’s uncle, Rafaqat Abbasi as saying. Maria’s family had gone to the funeral at a village called Davel in the northern part of the country.
Mr Abbasi also said lack of good road network linking the Murree area to the capital delayed the family in getting rapid medical attention for Maria, all contributing to her sad demise.
“Maria was lying on the floor, with 85% of her body covered in burns. There is no direct major road that passes through the village. We had to carry Maria on a chair to the closest road to get her to an ambulance”, Abbasi said.
Murree’s police inspector, Sohail Abbasi told reporters that four men had forced their way into Maria’s parents home. He also said the men beat her and set fire to her body with petrol.
Pakistan Punjab Province police spokesman, Nabeela Ghazanfar confirmed to local media that three men have been arrested in Islamabad in connection to the incident. An arrest warrant has also been issued against the fourth individual who is currently on the run.
Mr Ghazanfar futher added that the chief minister of the Pakistan’s Punjab province has assigned a three-member team to investigate the case.
According to the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, violence against women remains a big challenge for the government, as it is very rampant in the country.
The Commission’s latest report revealed that in 2015 alone, police formally investigated 76 cases of women being set on fire in various parts of the country.
Commenting on the damning report, the country’s Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif said: “The predominant causes of these killings in 2015 were domestic disputes, alleged illicit relations and exercising the right of choice in marriage.”
On the International Women’s Day in March this year, scores of women marched in Islamabad protesting against violence against women in the country.
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