It took a month and a half for Shamim Bibi, 25, to report her attacker to the police. On Thursday, she filed an FIR against her husband, Niaz, of Mangloor Colony, accusing him of setting her on fire over a minor dispute. However, he is still on the loose, police said.
While speaking to media persons at Women and Children Hospital Haripur, she said that one evening during Ramazan, Niaz came home from work and started beating her over a minor issue. He used abusive language against her parents, which she told him to stop. Infuriated over the resistance, he doused her with kerosene oil and set her on fire. Shamim said that Niaz and his mother then put out the flames, but claimed they only did it out of fear of legal action.
She said she did not inform her parents about the incident but when they came to know, her in-laws told them that her clothes accidently caught fire while cooking iftar and she got burnt. Even though her in-laws treated her wounds with herbal medicines, they did not take her to a hospital, she added.
Furthermore, she accused her spouse and his parents for keeping her locked up in a room for over a month. However, on Tuesday afternoon when all the family members were away, she sneaked out and reached her parents’ home who took her to a hospital. The doctor confirmed that she had severe burn wounds on her body that have not been treated properly, but added that her wounds are not life threatening.
The Saddar police could not arrest her husband till the filing of this report. The accused is a daily wage labourer and the couple has a minor son.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 31st, 2012.
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