Up in flames: Landlord allegedly sets wife on fire

Dur Muhammad broke into our house and burnt my daughter, says father .

HYDERABAD: Naseeban Mahar, 22, was set on fire allegedly by her husband. He apparently doused her in petrol, in Daurahi Maher village in Shaheed Benazirabad district on Tuesday.

Naseeban was brought to Peoples Medical College Hospital in a critical condition and was later shifted to Karachi. Naseeban’s father, Muhammad Maroof Maher, said that his son-in-law, Dur Muhammad Maher, is a landlord. He entered their house by force with other men and burnt his daughter. He said that his daughter’s relationship with her husband went sour soon after marriage and she started living with them. “We filed a case in the sessions court for divorce but her in-laws opposed it fiercely and threatened us,” he claimed. The father also blamed the police for supporting his daughter’s in-laws. Naseem Mastoi of the Women’s Complaint Centre said that the centre sought the help of the police many times while the family was being threatened but they did not pay any heed. SHO Jamal Shah claimed that the suspects have absconded. However, a case has not been registered yet.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 22^nd, 2012.