Police report says the women was beaten by her husband and his family members
Dubai: A newly wed woman was allegedly tortured to death by her in-laws in Lahore.
According to the first information report lodged by Suleman Khan, the brother of the deceased Sawera, she was killed a day after her marriage. She was reportedly subjected to torture by her husband and his family members over unidentified reasons, Dawn news reported. He stated that Sawera got married to Asif Jan of Shama Colony on Dec 28. When he visited Jan’s house along with his family members the next morning to see Sawera, they found her in-laws taking her to a hospital in an ambulance, Khan added.
He said when they reached the private hospital, the doctors refused to attend to her, calling it a police case due to bruises on various parts of her body. The doctors told them that she had already died, Suleman claimed, adding that they later rushed her to a government hospital where medics confirmed her death.
He claimed that his sister was allegedly tortured to death by her husband and his family members.
Police sent the body to morgue for autopsy and started an investigation into the allegations after lodging a case against the suspects.
Violence against women
Pakistan is the sixth most dangerous country in the world for women, with cases of sexual crimes and domestic violence recording a rapid rise.
According to statistics collected by White Ribbon Pakistan, an NGO working for women’s rights, 4,734 women faced sexual violence between 2004 and 2016. Over 15,000 cases of honor crimes were registered. There were more than 1,800 cases of domestic violence and over 5,500 kidnappings of women during this period.
According to media reports, more than 51,241 cases of violence against women were reported between January 2011 and June 2017. Conviction rates, meanwhile, remain low, with the accused in just 2.5 per cent of all reported cases ending up being convicted by courts.
The chief justice of Pakistan has recently announced that 1,000 courts would be set up to deal with the cases of violence against women.
Pakistani women’s rights activists like Mukhtaran Mai who herself is rape victim earlier told media that it’s a systemic problem.
“Women police stations and other facilities are set up in cities while the majority of the violence cases take place in villages,” Mai said. “In rural areas, feudal landlords call the shots; the administration and police are subservient to these feudal chieftains who view women as commodities. So how can justice be delivered in such cases?”
