Vet accused of setting wife on fire after she leaves him

Culprit apprehended in Balochistan, being brought to Karachi.

KARACHI: She had come to Karachi to escape from a torturous marriage of beatings and bashings, only to be doused with petrol and set on fire by her husband. Lying in the general ward of the Burns Centre, 30-year-old Mehwish winced in pain as she was surrounded by family. The alleged culprit, her husband, Ethisham ul Haq, worked as a veterinary doctor at a government hospital in Uthal, Balochistan, and earned as much as Rs40,000 every month. “He was an educated man and had no financial constraints, but he would not spend a single penny on his family. My sister had to take loans from us to purchase groceries and other necessities,” said Faisal, Mehwish’s brother.                             

Mehwish, hailing from Quetta, came to her sister’s house in Gulshan-e-Maymar with her children on Tuesday to escape from her husband. But Ethisham came to visit her a day later. “He came to talk to her. But instead of settling matters, he poured petrol on her and set her ablaze,” lamented Mehwish’s mother.

Mehwish received 32% burns that have scalded the lower part of her body. Meanwhile, Gulshan-e-Maymar SHO Ali Muhammad Bugti said that Ethisham was arrested from his hometown and that he would be brought to Karachi to face trial.

Unfortunately, cases like Mehwish’s are only too common for the burns hospital. During 2011, nearly 669 burns victims, of them 280 women, came to the hospital for treatment.

“The most common reason a woman gives for her injuries is that she caught fire while cooking. But in many instances, that is not the case,” said Dabirur Rehman, the executive director of the Burns Centre. While the FIR was being lodged, Mehwish said that she was set on fire by her husband. However, later on, she changed her statement and told officials that she was burnt accidently while cooking. “Even in such a state, she preferred to support her husband. This is why we cannot judge how many of the cases are of domestic violence.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 4^th, 2012.