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Hassan Khan, Rafiq’s husband, described his wife as his high school sweetheart in an interview with Newsweek Pakistan.

“We were just friends in the beginning,” he said, “but both of us realized we loved each other after some time.”

Eventually, the two decided to get married. Khan said he urged Rafiq to discuss their engagement with her family. When she did, he said, they beat her “mercilessly.”

“Her family found it a matter of great dishonour,” he said.

The couple tried on other occasions to get the family’s permission to marry, Khan told Newsweek, but they were rejected. So in the summer of 2016, they eloped.

For the first two days, Khan said, they hid at a cousin’s house, fearing retribution from Rafiq’s relatives. Then they went to Khan’s mother’s house.

A few days later, Khan said, Rafiq’s mother and an uncle arrived with something of an olive branch: if you let Rafiq return home, they said, we’ll arrange a formal wedding reception.

I rushed to their house and saw the burned remains of a body – it was so badly disfigured I couldn’t even tell if it was a person

It took some coaxing, but a male relative guaranteed Rafiq’s safety, Khan told Newsweek. But even after Rafiq agreed to go, she knew she was taking a risk, he said.

“Please forgive me if I don’t come back,” Khan recalled his wife saying.

It was the last time he saw her alive.

Rafiq had been home just a couple days when her mother and brother burned her. Neighbours heard screams and saw smoke rising from the house, but family members prevented them from coming inside, the AP reported.

Khan said he learned about her death through one of her cousins, who called and said, “They have killed her.”

“I couldn’t believe my ears,” Khan told Newsweek. “I rushed to their house and saw the burned remains of a body – it was so badly disfigured I couldn’t even tell if it was a person.”

Before Rafiq’s mother and brother were sentenced, Khan vowed to seek justice for his wife. He told Newsweek he refused to let her killing cloud his memory of her.

“She was full of joy,” he said, “and had such a beautiful smile.”