A young Pakistani teacher has died after being tortured and set alight by her former boss as punishment for refusing a marriage proposal from his son, relatives and police said.

Maria Sadaqat, 19, was attacked in the village of Upper Dewal, outside the capital Islamabad, on Monday night, and died two days later as a result of injuries.

Ms Sadaqat had recently been forced to leave her teaching job at the school, after the principal had begun harassing her when she turned down the proposal from his son, who was 'twice her age'.

Burned alive: Teacher Maria Sadaqat, 19, was tortured and set alight by a group of men, including her former boss - a principal at a private school - after she refused a marriage proposal from his son

'She was badly tortured and then burned alive. We brought her to hospital in Islamabad but she succumbed to her wounds today,' Ms Sadaqat's uncle, Abdul Basit, told reporters from outside a burns centre in the capital.

Mr Basit said his niece had been attacked by the principal of the private school and his accomplices after she refused a marriage proposal from his son.

'He was divorced and twice her age, so she refused the proposal and left her job when they pursued her time and again... eventually they attacked her,' Mr Basit said.

Police said Ms Sadaqat gave a statement before her death naming the principal and four others as her attackers.

'We have arrested at least one of the accused and a hunt is on for the rest,' Mazhar Iqbal, the officer directing the murder investigation said.

Murder: The teenager was attacked in the village of Upper Dewal, outside the capital Islamabad, on Monday night, and died two days later as a result of injuries

A doctor at the at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad said Ms Sadaqat had succumbed to serious burns.

'The poor woman was becoming better but then could not survive because most parts of her body had serious burn injuries,' said Dr Ayesha Ihsani.

It was the second time in just over a month that a Pakistani woman had been murdered over a marriage issue.

A woman believed to be aged between 16-18 was drugged, strangled and her body burnt on the orders of a village council in northwest Pakistan on April 29, allegedly for helping a friend to elope with her lover.