



A woman in Bahawalpur has suffered severe burn injuries in an alleged assault by her husband, a brother-in-law and their cousin because “she had not turned down latter’s request”.





Saima Kanwal, a resident of Kousar Colony, Shahdara, is under treatment at Bahawal Victoria Hospital where doctors describe her condition as critical. They have said the woman has suffered 50 to 60 per cent burns.She was rescued on Wednesday by a neighbour, Kiran, from her kitchen where she had allegedly been abandoned after the assault. Kiran told The Express Tribune that her family had rushed to Kanwal’s house on hearing her cries for help. She said they had to break open the kitchen door to rescue Kanwal. “We poured several buckets of water on her to put out the fire and then took her to the hospital,” she said.Talking to The Tribune, the victim said she had refused to hand over a key to the storeroom at her house to her husband Shakir Hussain’s cousin, Rehan.She said her husband had previously told her not be give the key to anyone in his absence. However, she said, a few hours after the incident Hussain came home along with Rehan and her brother-in-law Jaffer.“I told Hussain that I had declined his cousin’s request in compliance with his instructions,” she said. She said Hussain started beating her. She said the three men had left after pushing her onto the burning stove.She said in the past too she had been beaten by her husband following arguments. They have been married for seven years.Civil Lines SHO Tasadduq Abbas said the suspects had fled. He said police teams had been constituted to carry out raids for their arrest.A woman of Jalla Arain Chak 41, a village near Lodhran, was shot and injured on Friday allegedly by her brother who had suspected her of an illicit relationship with a neighbour.The woman’s father said she and her brother exchanged hot words when he asked her whether she had gone out with a neighbour her family did not want her to see. Jahangir allegedly shot her after the argument and fled.She was taken first to Lodhran district headquarters (DHQ) hospital and then to Bahawal Victoria Hospital, Bahawalpur where doctors described her condition as critical. They said the woman had been shot four times in the abdomen.Published in The Express Tribune, December 18, 2011.