https://arab.news/gwd3t
- The woman told police in a complaint filed few days ago that she was receiving threats from her father and other relatives
- The plight of women in Pakistan is marked by significant challenges rooted in deeply ingrained social norms, cultural practices
KARACHI: A woman was attacked with an axe by her family members for “seeking divorce” from her husband in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province, police said on Friday.
The woman had registered a complaint a few days ago and stated that she was receiving threats from her father and other relatives for seeking divorce from her husband, according to a Naushahro Feroze police spokesperson.
She had also sought legal protection. The woman was presented before a local court and shifted to a shelter home on the court orders, but she decided to go to her mother’s home after a few days.
“Suspect Ghulam Mustafa (father of the woman), along with his brother and another suspect, attacked his daughter in Gul Town area of the Naushahro Feroze district, injured her and damaged her legs,” the spokesperson said in a statement on Friday.
A picture of Batool released by the police after she was attacked and following her medical treatment showed both her legs bandaged with plaster.
Police have lodged a case against the suspects under sections 114, 148, 149, 324, 506/2 of the Pakistan Penal Code (provisions related to criminal offenses and penalties) and apprehended a suspect, Qurban Shah.
“Raids are being conducted at different places to arrest other suspects,” the police spokesperson said. “They will be brought before the law very soon.”
The plight of women in Pakistan is marked by significant challenges rooted in deeply ingrained social norms. Cultural practices often restrict freedoms and perpetuate gender-based violence, including domestic abuse and honor-related crimes.
The attacks fit a wider pattern of eroding women’s rights in the Muslim-majority nation of more than 240 million, where women are frequently treated as second-class citizens and laws against domestic violence are not implemented properly.