Marriage woes: Woman, daughter burnt for refusing proposal

Police say one accused arrested, three still missing.

DERA GHAZI KHAN:

A man was arrested by Jhoke Uttra police on Thursday on charges of throwing acid and burning a woman and her daughter.

The man, Haji Muhammad, and his son Muhammad Sarwar allegedly burnt the two women because Amna Bibi had refused to wed her daughter, Rukhsana, to Sarwar.

Muhammad is the husband of Bibi’s sister. Both families lived in Bilal village in Aliwala. Bibi’s husband, Muhammad Farid, said that Muhammad and his son came to his home on Thursday. He said he told them that he did not want to wed his daughter to Sarwar, but they urged him to change his mind. He said his wife and daughter were attacked and burnt after he had stepped out of the house. He said the two fled after the attack. He said his daughter had been due to marry next week. DPO Malik Tasaduq Awan said they were raiding the area and hoped that Sarwar and two unidentified accused would also be arrested in a few days. He said the family had fled their home in Bilal village.  He said a police team was interrogating Muhammad at Jhoke Uttra police station.

District headquarters (DHQ) hospital’s medical superintendent Yousaf Chugtai told The Express Tribune that 60 per cent of Bibi’s body and 30 per cent of Rukhsana’s body had been burnt. He said there was no burn unit at the DHQ and that he had referred the two women to Nishtar Hospital in Multan. Farid, however, said he could not afford to take his wife and daughter to Multan. He said he had sought help from his family members to pay for his wife and daughter’s treatment at Nishtar Hospital.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 17th, 2011.