In a strange twist of honour killing, a Pakistani woman has reportedly tied up her daughter, doused her with kerosene and set her on fire, because she defiled the family.
18-year-old Zeenat Rafiq was allegedly murdered in such gruesome fashion because she married her lover against the wish of the family. Her brother who aided her mum in the crime is also on the run from police. Police official Sheikh Hammad said the killing took place in the eastern city of Lahore, the country’s cultural hub, and that the mother was arrested the same day.
The suspect, Parveen Rafiq confessed to tying up her 18-year-old daughter Zeenat Rafiq (pictured) to a cot after which, with the help of her son, Ahmar Rafiq, she poured the oil on the girl and set her ablaze, Hammad said.
"Her mother has confessed to the crime but we find it hard that a 50-year-old woman committed this act all by herself with no help from the family members," he said.
Nearly 1,000 women are killed each year in so-called “honor killings” in Pakistan for allegedly violating conservative norms on love and marriage.
The victim Zeenat Rafiq, had gotten married last month before a court magistrate to a motorcycle mechanic, Hasan Khan and they went to live with his family.
Three days ago, he said, the girl’s mother and an uncle visited her to try to persuade her to return home and have the marriage ceremony repeated in a traditional family function, instead of being labelled her whole life as someone who had “eloped.”
Khan, her husband, told the local Geo News TV station that his bride had feared the worst. "Don’t let me go, they will kill me," Khan recounted his wife telling him.