The mother-in-law of a young Pakistani woman allegedly burned to death by her family for eloping against their wishes has described the horror of learning about her killing.
Shahida Khan, the mother-in-law of Zeenat Rafique, 18, said her son has been suicidal since learning of the killing Wednesday.
“We woke up yesterday and found out that they had burned Zeenat,” she told CNN. “My son started screaming and crying. … He said that, ‘Now that she’s dead, I’m going to leave this world as well.’ “
The killing, which police allege was at the hands of Rafique’s mother and brother, has left her family distraught, the mother-in-law said.
“There should be justice. How could they be so heartless and kill this girl? She was our child now; she married our son.”
Burned alive, autopsy says
Rafique was still breathing when police say her mother and brother set her on fire for eloping, CNN affiliate Geo News reported.
An autopsy released Thursday said Rafique had traces of smoke in her respiratory tract, indicating she was alive when she was set ablaze.
Rafique had also been strangled, the autopsy said, according to Geo News.
The young woman was laid to rest Thursday by her tearful husband, 19-year-old Hassan Khan.
“When we saw her body, she had strangulation marks on her neck,” said her mother-in-law, Khan.
Rafique’s family had refused to accept her body.
Forbidden love
Khan said Rafique and her son had been secretly dating for five years. The young couple met in school.
She said the two married on May 29.
After eloping, Rafique moved away. But she returned to her family’s home in Lahore because she thought a reconciliation was possible, Punjab police representative Nabeela Ghazanfar said.
Khan, the young widower, told police that Rafique had feared for her life after the couple eloped.
“I only allowed her to visit her parents after her paternal uncle guaranteed her safety,” Khan said, according to Geo News.
Shahida Khan told CNN that Rafique’s family “had promised that not even one hair on her head would come to harm.”
“We called up her uncle and he told us that they will bring her back to us themselves — we trusted them,” she said.
But when Rafique arrived at her family’s home, her mother and brother tied her to a bed, poured gasoline and set her on fire, said Ghazanfar, the police official.
Family unapologetic, police say
The mother, Parveen Rafique, turned herself over to authorities and has expressed no sorrow for her actions, police said. She’s in custody being held on suspicion of murder.
The brother, Ahmer Rafique, is on the run, police said.
“We are looking for her brother because an old woman cannot perform this act alone. There has to be help,” Ghazanfar said.
Ghazanfar said there were marks on the body, but investigators would need to wait for a postmortem examination to determine what Rafique had been subjected to by her killers.
Punjab Chief Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif was notified of the killing, Ghazanfar said.
CNN has reached out to Pakistan’s government for reaction on the case and is awaiting comment.
Shahida Khan told CNN that her family was receiving threats from Rafique’s family.
About 1,100 women were killed by relatives in Pakistan last year, according to the country’s independent Human Rights Commission.
The crimes originate from tribal practices and are often meted out as punishment for behavior viewed as bringing dishonor to a family or village.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly referred to the surnames of the victim’s mother and mother-in-law. They should be identified as Parveen Rafique and Shahida Khan, respectively.
