Man booked for ‘torturing’ wife

A case was registered against a man for torturing his wife, due to which she lost her pregnancy. According to the case filed by Zarina Bibi, a resident of Kalyanwala, it was stated that her daughter, Alia Nasir, was married to Mursalin.

During a domestic dispute, Mursalin allegedly grabbed his wife by her hair and kicked her in the abdomen, due to which her pregnancy was lost. Police registered a case under the provisions of 338 D PPC and started searching for Mursalin.

Domestic violence is not a new occurrence in Punjab, with the Punjab Women’s Helpline 1043 claiming to receive 3,481 calls in 2021. According to the PCSW, this figure jumped by 52% from the numbers in 2020.

In July 2021, a litany of domestic assaults were reported in Lahore. On July 17th, a man allegedly assaulted his wife when she refused to let him sell their house. According to detail, he allegedly beat her with pipes and sticks, before dousing her in fuel and setting her on fire later that night.

Separately on July 14th, a 35-year-old woman named Rana Bibi was found dead in a field in Shera Kot. She had been stabbed to death and it later transpired that she was allegedly murdered by her husband and several accomplices.

Earlier this week, a case of domestic violence was reported in Lahore, where a man allegedly set his wife on fire. In the complaint filed by the victim’s daughter, she stated that she heard her mother screaming somewhere in the house. When she went to see what the commotion was, she saw her mother’s clothes on fire. According to the complaint, the immolation occurred following a domestic argument.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 27^th, 2022.