Woman set on fire for refusing proposal

A doctor confirmed that 45 to 50 per cent of Bibi’s body had been burnt in the attack

MULTAN: A young Pakistani woman was recovering in hospital Friday after she was burned over nearly half her body by a man she had refused to marry, police said.

Sonia Bibi, 20, told police from her hospital bed that her former lover Latif Ahmed sprinkled her with petrol and set her alight after she turned down his proposal.

A doctor in Multan’s main Nishtar hospital confirmed to AFP that 45 to 50 per cent of Bibi’s body had been burnt in the attack, but said she was out of danger.

The incident took place in a remote village of Multan district and police have arrested the 24-year-old Ahmed, local police official Jamshed Hayat told AFP.

“Police arrested the man after recording the statement of Sonia Bibi in the presence of her parents,” Hayat said. “The girl told us that she was in love with Latif, whom she accused of dousing her in gasoline and setting her alight.”

Published in The Express Tribune, October 24^th, 2015.