Teen survives ‘honour killing’ bid

A PAKISTANI woman who was brutally beaten, shot and dumped in a canal by her relatives for marrying against their wishes has survived her harrowing ordeal.

Saba Maqsood, 19, was shot twice and beaten by her father, uncle and two other close relatives after they learnt she had secretly married. The police have launched a manhunt for her alleged attackers.

The incident occurred in Gujranwala, 70km north of Lahore.

“First they brutally beat [Maqsood] and then shot her twice. She was then put in a sack and thrown in a canal,” said police investigator Zabitay Khan. “They had presumed her dead, but she managed to open the sack and came out of the canal.”

The police were alerted to the teenager’s plight after she managed to crawl out of the canal and reach a security guard at a nearby petrol station.

Shiraz Farooqi, a doctor in the hospital where the girl is being treated, said she was in a stable condition and recovering.

Many Pakistani women have no say in who they marry, and disobeying the wishes of relatives is believed to bring shame on the whole family.

Last year, 869 women died in so-called honour killings, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

Pakistan’s blood-money laws allow a victim’s family to forgive the murderer, which makes prosecution of “honour” cases difficult because the killer is usually a relative. — AFP