KHOI RATTA: A couple who killed their teenage daughter by dousing her in acid spoke Tuesday of their sadness and regret at the attack which they said they carried out to protect family “honour”.
The parents poured acid over 15-year-old Anusha at their home last Monday after seeing her looking at boys. The girl died two days later after suffering 70 percent burns, according to doctors.
Rights activists say more than 900 women were murdered last year after being accused of bringing shame on the family in some way.
Both parents have been arrested and Anusha’s mother Zaheen Akhtar, 42, speaking from her police cell in Khoi Ratta, around 140 kilometres (85 miles) north of Muzaffarabad, the main city in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, said she feared for the future of the rest of her children.
“I deeply regret my action. I am repenting as I should not have done this. She was very innocent. I feel like killing all my kids,” the mother of eight told AFP.
“My remaining children, including four girls and two boys, all under 10 years of age have been left alone and they have nobody out there except Allah the Almighty to look after them,” she said.
Akhtar said she and husband Mohammad Zafar feared Anusha would follow in the footsteps of her elder sister who they married off at 16 “because people had been talking about her bad character” and who had cut off contact after moving to Karachi with her husband.
House painter Zafar, 53, said he brought Anusha inside to beat her after seeing her looking at two boys outside the family home, but now he was haunted by memories of the attack.
“We were upset by (the) character of our elder daughter and feared that Anusha might follow (in) her footprints,” he said.
“Anusha’s mother should not have done this. I cannot sleep and whenever I shut my eyes, I see Anusha’s burnt face.”
The parents waited two days to take Anusha to hospital, but Zafar insisted this was simply because they could not afford to take her until a local doctor gave him some money.
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The parents must be secretly so happy.
@waseem: I agree - but they are a credit to islam and it's influence.
Thinking of all the children. The girl who is killed. The other children who has this experience the rest of their lives. Impossible to understand. How is this possible.
what kind of monsters are these people to kill their own child and watch her suffering. No animal would do this to its own.I am ashamed to share the planet with these monsters. They should do the same for them, nice acid bath
Male Grizzly Bears make better parents!
Mental problems, on top of illiteracy, poverty and eight kids really wreaked havoc on this unfortunate family. Our scholars and medical knowledge holders must make it a goal of putting a cap on the fall-out of such conditions. Educating the public fearlessly is all about freedom of speech. Stopping a chance of education is just the opposite, cruel and in humane.
What a shame.
I wonder why the eldest daughter who had already brought shame upon the barbaric parents cut off all contact from her family after she got married. In the name of so-called honour, religion, customs and traditions we legitimise all sorts of crimes. For once, let's NOT try to put ourselves in the criminals' shoes and punish them for what they did.
@saleem chaudhry agree with your view. the parents deserve all the punishment by law, but there is more to this story that just two cruel murderers.
We people have become mentally retarded.
4girls+2boys+1girl killed+1girl married-- total 8children (out of that 6females whose honour must be protected)
single earnings member , profession :house painter (unskilled labourer) total family income ?? education of children ??? (could they afford sending children to school?) how big is house ? . after killing daughter they repent; and how do they express it? 'i want to kill all my children' . please provide psychiatric help to the whole family. and some income source.
@Surya Namaskar: Its not fair to only blame Pakistan. Yes it is a huge problem and I am not denying that. But a lot of these cases happen in other South Asian countries or by people of South Asian descent. In the UK a large percentage of cases like these are done by Sikhs. I'm not saying Pakistan doesnt have a problem. We do but please don't put 100% of the blame on us.
The parents brought acid and kept it ready to pour on their daughter. They did not regret when their daughter suffered two days of enormous pain, burning, helplessness. Now in jail, they leisurely issue statements of regret. First they did not know about honour when producing eight children without any financial background. They are just like beasts who swallow their own cubs when hungry. If this is religious culture, a local Mullah also should be hanged along with them. For every acid case, a local mullah should be made a sacrificial goat and be hanged (of course the mullahs body will not be eaten by insects as it is more poisonous than acid.
feel sorry for the other kids:(((
@Sam: god help those who help themselves.............
girl killed for seeing boy...........some days back .....girl killed for talking to boys.....some months back policeman kills sister for wearing jeans...hmmmmmmmmmm......what is so much honourable in this???
“My remaining children, including four girls and two boys, all under 10 years of age have been left alone and they have nobody out there except Allah the Almighty to look after them,” she said.
Why does she need anyone else? Isn't Almighty Allah more than sufficient.
Poor, unaducated & daily wage earner parents of 8 children, the eldest one has had issues with her life, second one killed in this manner and six remaining children under the age of 10 are left on society's mercy.
If you are not able to put your feet in their shoes, the least you can do is to not judge. The boys on the motorsycle who came stoking the family should also be questioned who put this vulnerable family into this self-beating & vicious circle of saving the face.
Parenting is a skill that doesn't come naturally to everyone. Our nation with its meagre resources can only afford to teach a select few, and that too subjects like aljebra, and the story of Muhammad Bin Qasim.
The caption of this news is also misleading in terms of emphasizing the wrong part of the conversation. The mother is davastated to have done so and now to see her 6 kids growing without parental care and is tentamounting it to killing them with her our hands.
@Jawad Khan Niazi: i admire you.May your tribe increase many fold...lol
@Aviator: Sir, why drag other South Asian nations into such a sordid story? Yes, there are other evils in other societies, but Pakistan is unique as far as "honour" is concerned. The acid throwing practice is widespread in Pakistan: faces of innocent women are permanently scarred or destroyed while killers are showered with rose petals. A few years from now, history books (not written by Pakistanis!) will tell you that "once upon a time there was a country called Pakistan where women were treated as sacrificial goats and slaughtered for the honour of some". Just wait till the mullahs and their mobs take over the country. The barbarians are already at the gate!
One has to suffer the fruits of one's sins in this life itself.....as the father admits that he can see his daughter's burnt face, whenever he shuts his eyes.....................this spectre will haunt him forever, unfortunately..........this is like Hell, served right at your door-step into your psyche. Rest in peace Anusha...
@Jawad Khan Niazi: What circumstances? No one is above the law to take life and death decisions in one's own hands. Worst, such incidents are defaming Pakistan and more importantly, Islam.
It's easy to judge their situation but for a moment - think about the family's agony and think about the circumstances that led to this. I cannot believe that this is an isolated incident and I pray to God that all our families are protected from such incidents.
Give them the most painful punishment imaginable, now she is 'repenting', who killed her own daughter, not just killed, tortured her own blood to death for two days is now repenting and is concerned about her other kids! The most painful punishment possible, feel sorry for the kids but they don't deserve such 'parents' (monsters). May Allah give them a better life, Ameen.
I dont know any other society on earth where honour is more important than a persons child's life. Not just Pakistan but all other South Asian countries.
Honour is one of the biggest poisons in our society. Pakistan requires nothing less than a complete reform of society to eradicate such evil social norms. It cannot progress otherwise.
It is upto civil society, goverment, religious clerics, and media to educate people against these crimes. And laws and punishment should be enforced strictly against honour crimes.
seriously i m not a good person i would say but really i can not beat a dog or an animal with a stick ....how cruel these parents would be who kill their own blood with their own hinds and with such brutality ....really they must not b human ,,,its inhuman
disgrace to humanity and disgrace to parenthood....
“I deeply regret my action. I am repenting as I should not have done this. She was very innocent. I feel like killing all my kids,” Wow. That woman is definitely not verbally graceful.
But, she's not sorry because she hurt her kid like that. The reality of her own situation is just kicking in. She had plenty of time for regret to kick in and it didn't. I'd imagine the girl'ss behavior after the attack with such a delay in taking her to the hospital would be enough to turn a stranger's stomach, let alone her parents if they really cared.
she killed one. feels sad about it. yet want to kill all the other kids? what has this world come to?
These unfortunate parents have no option but to pour acid on themselves +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
to suffer as their innocent daughter did.
Why were these people not given the death penalty?
Who authorized them to kill her for mere act of looking at boys? Both parents should be hanged publicly so that nobody else dares thinking about committing such a barbarian crime.
Bull ! It is now up to Allah to forgive these animals. They must be punished for what they did.
Are these Parents even HUMAN . she was a girl he has to look at guys is now even looking a SIN . Oh God HELP Them