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Pakistani Woman Burned Alive For Refusing Marriage


Pakistani activists hold placards as they march during a rally to mark International Women's Day in Islamabad on March 8.
Pakistani activists hold placards as they march during a rally to mark International Women's Day in Islamabad on March 8.

A Pakistani woman has died after she was tortured and set on fire for turning down a marriage proposal, relatives and police say.

Maria Sadaqat, 19, was attacked by a group of people on May 31 in the village of Upper Dewal near the resort of Murree outside the capital, Islamabad.

"She was badly tortured and then burned alive," Sadaqat's uncle, Abdul Basit, said on June 1. "We brought her to hospital in Islamabad but she succumbed to her wounds today."

Basit said his niece was attacked by the principal of the private school where she had formerly worked and by his accomplices after she refused a marriage proposal from his son.

Police said one of the suspects had been arrested.

Women's decisions on love and marriage can often make them the targets of violence in Pakistan.

Based on reporting by AFP, dpa, and Dawn

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