Woman burnt alive: Suspects remanded for three days

Police await autopsy report, rule out suicide; psychologist worries about trauma’s effect on children.

MANSEHRA: Two men suspected of immolating a woman were sent on three-day judicial remand on Tuesday by a judicial magistrate.

Anila Bibi, 26, was a mother of three minor children. She died after suffering over 90 per cent burns when two men broke into her house before daybreak on Monday, tied her to her bed, poured kerosene over her, and set her on fire. The police arrested Javed and his nephew Naseer after the victim’s father Sadiq Khan and her nine-year-old son N* – who witnessed the crime – nominated them. Anila’s husband Fayyaz is in jail facing trial for the murder of Javed’s brother Banaras, which happened around six months back.

Investigation Officer ASI Niaz Khan said the accused were produced before the court of judicial magistrate Shiraz Firdaus with a plea for seven-day physical remand, but the court only granted three days, adding that they would be produced in court again on Thursday.

The ASI told the media he had recovered the empty bottle of kerosene oil that was used in the attack, while cell phone data from her phone and those of the suspects was being gathered to help determine if any other persons were involved in the murder. He said he had not been given a copy of the autopsy report yet.

To a question, he flatly ruled out suicide, noting that the accused had been gagged with a piece of cloth and her hands were tied together and that  to the cot she was sleeping in.

The IO believes that when the rope tied to the cot burnt, the woman ran outside the room and fell in the courtyard, where her children and parents saw her burning body.

They put out the fire and took her to King Abdullah Teaching Hospital, where she died a few hours later. He said that after her husband’s arrest six months back, she relocated to her parent’s house. Her father’s statement adds that someone had previously been taking pictures of her in a public place before trying to attack her with a sharp edged weapon.

Meanwhile, Sadiq, the victim’s father, said Anila’s children were aged 11, nine, and five, and they all were traumatised after the incident. The grief-stricken father spoke of how he had brought them to his house so that they would be safe.

What of the children

Meanwhile, psychologist Dr Sahira Khan said that the children had experienced a major traumatic event – seeing their mother set on fire and dying – and would be vulnerable to different psychological disorders.

She said that the immediate problem they could face was acute stress disorder with flashbacks, reliving the incident, nightmares and insomnia.

She suggested that the children be given access to counseling, lest the trauma aggravates their mental condition.

Dr Sahira, a psychologist working for Human Development Organisation (HDO), lamented that there was no proper arrangement for psychological treatment at government-run health facilities in Hazara, and the only available options were private practitioners or NGO-run services like the ones she provides.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 1^st, 2017.