A Pakistani mother has been arrested on suspicion of
burning her 16-year-old daughter alive for marrying
without family consent in the latest so-called “honour
killing” to shock the country.
Zeenat Rafiq , 17-year-old Pakistani lady ran away
from her family and got married against the will of her
family to a young man, Hassaid Khan . Zeenat
was tricked into returning home by her mother with the
promise of organising for them a proper wedding
ceremony.
The unsuspecting girl was doused with petrol and set
on fire by her mother, Perveen, in a neighbourhood of
Lahore.
The mother reportedly made no attempt to hide her
crime, shouting to neighbours that she had killed her
daughter for supposedly dishonouring her family.
Zeenat ran away with and married Hassan last week,
angering her Punjabi family who were furious that she
had married an ethnic Pashtun without permission.
In a television interview with Geo News, Khan said,
“After living with me for four days following our
marriage, her family contacted us and promised they
would throw us a proper wedding party after eight
days”.
“Zeenat was unwilling to go back to her home and told
me that she would be killed by her family, but later
agreed when one of her uncles guaranteed her safety”.
“After two days, she called me and said that her family
had gone back on their word and asked me to come to
get her, but I told her to wait for the promised eight
days. Then she was killed.”
Lahore police arrested Zeenat’s mother and said they
were looking for her brother, who had recently flown in
from Dubai.
Perveen’s younger sister Naseem told AFP: “After
killing her daughter,
Perveen went out on the street,
took off her shawl and started beating herself on her
chest, shouting: ‘People! I have killed my daughter for
misbehaving and giving our family a bad name.'”
“My sister declared a long time ago she would not
allow her daughter to marry a Pashtun,” she said.
The case has attracted the interest of Shahbaz Sharif,
the chief minister of Punjab. In February Sharif’s
brother, the prime minister Nawaz Sharif, pledged to
close a loophole under Islamic law that allows many
perpetrators of so-called “honour” killings to go free.
Under current laws family members are allowed to
forgive the killer, forcing prosecutors to drop even the
most watertight case.
It often leads to killers walking free in situations where
entire families agree that a daughter has brought
shame on them.
Source: The Guardian
burning her 16-year-old daughter alive for marrying
without family consent in the latest so-called “honour
killing” to shock the country.
Zeenat Rafiq , 17-year-old Pakistani lady ran away
from her family and got married against the will of her
family to a young man, Hassaid Khan . Zeenat
was tricked into returning home by her mother with the
promise of organising for them a proper wedding
ceremony.
The unsuspecting girl was doused with petrol and set
on fire by her mother, Perveen, in a neighbourhood of
Lahore.
The mother reportedly made no attempt to hide her
crime, shouting to neighbours that she had killed her
daughter for supposedly dishonouring her family.
Zeenat ran away with and married Hassan last week,
angering her Punjabi family who were furious that she
had married an ethnic Pashtun without permission.
In a television interview with Geo News, Khan said,
“After living with me for four days following our
marriage, her family contacted us and promised they
would throw us a proper wedding party after eight
days”.
“Zeenat was unwilling to go back to her home and told
me that she would be killed by her family, but later
agreed when one of her uncles guaranteed her safety”.
“After two days, she called me and said that her family
had gone back on their word and asked me to come to
get her, but I told her to wait for the promised eight
days. Then she was killed.”
Lahore police arrested Zeenat’s mother and said they
were looking for her brother, who had recently flown in
from Dubai.
Perveen’s younger sister Naseem told AFP: “After
killing her daughter,
took off her shawl and started beating herself on her
chest, shouting: ‘People! I have killed my daughter for
misbehaving and giving our family a bad name.'”
“My sister declared a long time ago she would not
allow her daughter to marry a Pashtun,” she said.
The case has attracted the interest of Shahbaz Sharif,
the chief minister of Punjab. In February Sharif’s
brother, the prime minister Nawaz Sharif, pledged to
close a loophole under Islamic law that allows many
perpetrators of so-called “honour” killings to go free.
Under current laws family members are allowed to
forgive the killer, forcing prosecutors to drop even the
most watertight case.
It often leads to killers walking free in situations where
entire families agree that a daughter has brought
shame on them.
Source: The Guardian
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