Property dispute: Siblings burn brother in Gujranwala

Doctors say he has 50 per cent burns.

GUJRANWALA:

A man was burned allegedly by his siblings on Sunday over some property.

The injured, the eldest of the siblings, was taken to the district headquarters hospital, from where he was referred to Lahore in a critical condition.

A case has been registered by Cantonment police against three people on a complaint filed by the victim’s brother-in-law. Police said they were looking for the suspects, who are at large.



Rafique, a resident of Lambawali village and a father of five, told police that he had had a dispute with his two brothers and a sister over a four marla house they had inherited.

On Sunday, he said, when he away, his sister Farzana had and argument with his wife Razia Bibi which ended up in Farzana beating Razia Bibi. He said his brothers, Nasir and Waqas, too joined in and beat up his wife.

He said when he returned home, he saw them beating her. He said he tried to save her, but they threw kerosene oil at him and set fire to his clothes. They then fled, locking the main door behind them.

Rafique said his wife knocked at the door from inside and shouted for help. Some neighbours heard her and broke in.

He was taken to DHQ hospital, from where he was sent to the Lahore General Hospital. Doctors treating him said he had 40-50 per cent burns and that his condition was critical.

He said his wife sent their children with her brother fearing her in-laws would harm them, too.

Riaz, one of their neighbours, told The Express Tribune that Rafique’s brothers and his sister had been forcing him to transfer the house they were living in to their name “because his wife had her eyes on the property”. He said initially the neighbours thought Rafique had set himself on fire.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 22^nd, 2013.