17-year-old girl 'set on fire' in Lahore for freewill marriage

The heart-wrenching incident took place in Factory Area  where the mother and brothers of the girl named Zeenat doused her with kerosene and set her up on fire.

Zeenat was shifted to the hospital in critical condition but could not survive the ordeal and succumbed to her wounds. Police have taken the mother of the girl into custody while her brothers have fled from their homes.

Read: Fallen in love: Karachi schoolboy shoots girl dead, later kills himself 

Her husband, Hassan, said that Zeenat was living with him after the marriage. Recently she had reconciled with her mother who offered to  arrange her marriage in a honorable way.  Zeenat went to her mother’s house where she was allegedly killed by them.

This is one the several fates which awaits women across Pakistan which exercise freewill in the  patriarchal society. Every year thousands of women are violently attacked and beaten, sexually assaulted, doused with acid or set on fire for daring to make her own life decisions.

Read more: Man kills mother, sister over ‘marital dispute’

Domestic violence is an endemic social problem in the society and is seldom seen as a crime by law-enforcement agencies. It is only the most horrific cases which are seen reported and get media attention.

It is estimated that more than 5000 women are killed every due from domestic violence. A report of the Human Rights Watch that around seventy percent of women have suffered abuse at some point in their lives.

A few days ago a teenage girl was also set on fire in Murree by three unknown men for refusing a marriage proposal.