Domestic violence: Man shaves wife’s head before divorcing her over ‘honour’

Victim claims she was assaulted by her husband’s second wife, mother-in-law.


Muhammad Sadaqat June 23, 2014

ABBOTABAD:


A woman has accused her husband of shaving her head before divorcing her in the name of honour in the city.


Shifa Bibi*, 29, of Mohallah Thanda Choha, Nawanshehr, told the police her parents had married her off to Asif, son of Hussain of Mirpur village. She added they had two children and after two years Asif entered into another marriage.

Shifa said she had a difficult relationship with Asif’s second wife, Rubina, and even though she supported the family financially by selling embroidered products, Asif often beat her up. Shifa claimed whenever she left the house, Rubina used to brainwash Asif saying she was having an extramarital affair with a man in Bilal Town.

On Saturday afternoon, when Shifa returned home after selling the embroidered handicrafts, Asif’s mother Nisa Bibi and Rubina started assaulting her and accused her of having met a man, Babar, who Rubina dubbed as Shifa’s “lover”.

"After thrashing me, they locked me in a room and waited for Asif to return. He then beat me black and blue and shaved my hair off with a razor before divorcing me," Shifa told the police. She added Asif also forcibly took their two minor children into his custody.

Mirpur police have registered a criminal case against Asif, Rubina and Nisa Bibi but the accused are yet to be arrested. (Name has been changed to protect the victim’s identity)

Published in The Express Tribune, June 24th, 2014.

COMMENTS (31)

Dr Priyanka | 10 years ago | Reply

@Pankaj: you are mistaken. It is not about polygamy. The same mindset exists in India. Dowry deaths, rape, honour killings-you name them. You will get a variety of crimes against women. Only when the attitude of men in society changes and women are empowered we shall see good results. I am a living example of a person who has stood up to domestic abuse and won the battle. The perpetrators of abuse are low life creatures who have poor social skills and end up in a gutter.

Pankaj | 10 years ago | Reply

How many wives are allowed at a time in Pakistan ? The real reason is polygamy in this case ...... Interestingly no men or women raised this real issue here in their comments. ...... Is it crime in Pakistan to speak against having multiple wives ?

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