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London Telegraph 3/12/00:
Pakistani women fight growing scandal of wife burnings
By Christina Lamb
HUNDREDS of Pakistani women are being burnt to death every year by their
husbands or in-laws in an upsurge of so-called "stove-burst" attacks.
"It's the easiest way for a husband to get rid of a wife he no longer wants,"
said Shahnaz Bukhari, the head of the Progressive Women's Association (PWA),
an organisation striving to help survivors and alert the public. "There are
no gunshots; no fingerprints. All the husband has to say is that the wife was
cooking in the kitchen when the edge of her dupatta [scarf] fell in the stove
and caught fire."
Figures compiled by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan show that the
practice is increasing. This may be due in part to the country's economic
woes. Men who might previously have taken a second wife now kill the first
because they cannot afford to maintain both.
At least four women are said to be murdered every day by husbands or in-laws
dousing them with paraffin. In Rawalpindi, about 40 women are admitted to
hospital each month, often with as much as 90 per cent burns. "This is just
the tip of the iceberg," said Mrs Bukhari. Most victims die. Pakistan has no
specialist burns units, apart from a small private one, and hospital hygiene
is often poor.
One of the few survivors is Sabira Khan. Married at 16, she was told by her
36-year-old husband that she would not be allowed contact with her own
family. For two years, he beat her and kept her prisoner in the house in
Jhelum where he lived with his family, until one day her mother arrived,
insisting on seeing her.
The husband and mother-in-law ejected the mother and then beat Sabira, who
was three months pregnant, and set her alight. Outside, her mother heard her
screams and, with the help of neighbours, managed to rescue her. Sabira
suffered 60 per cent burns. Her chin had fused to her chest. She still bears
the scars. "Being burnt for such small reasons makes us feel we are not
considered as human beings, but as objects which can be broken and replaced,"
said Sabira, her face half-hidden under a veil.
For survivors such as Sabira, it is hard to re-enter society, not just
because of their disfigurement, but the shame of being cast out by their
husbands. Their own families often refuse to take them back because it would
make it hard for them to marry off other daughters. Many attacks stem from
arguments over money, or a row between a wife and mother-in-law. Also common
are "honour killings" when a man catches his wife talking to another man.
Even wealthy, educated women can fall victim to such attacks. Irene Gill grew
up in America and held a master's degree in chemistry. She was sent to
Pakistan to marry a distant cousin in an arranged marriage. She soon found
herself treated like a servant. When she was pregnant for a third time, her
mother-in-law insisted that the baby be given to her sister-in-law who was
childless. When Irene refused, her in-laws set her on fire. She died in
hospital.
Despite often overwhelming evidence, the PWA has secured convictions in
barely one per cent of cases. Attackers usually say the fire was a stove
accident. In Sabira's case, her husband argued that she was insane and set
fire to herself. He walked free. In Irene's case, her in-laws claimed that
she was warming milk and the gas exploded. Her case never came to court.
Last week, the PWA and several human rights groups, launched a campaign to
press the military government to introduce legislation to make domestic
violence a recognised crime. Mrs Bukhari has also set up a shelter in
Rawalpindi where Sabira and other survivors live. But such efforts have
earned Mrs Bukhari enemies in a society where a women's place is very much
second-class. Critics have branded her a terrorist. "While the rest of the
world is moving forwards we are going backwards to the stone age," she said.
Some help is being provided by a team of British doctors from Interplast, a
Middlesbrough-based charity, which recently began regular missions to carry
out reconstructive surgery. Charles Viva, a retired plastic surgeon, said he
was horrified by what they found. "Entering a Pakistani hospital is like
going back 70 years," he said. "Patients are often lying on the floor. Anyone
with 30 or 40 per cent burns or more is not treated because they are expected
to die. It's shocking to see all these pretty young girls damaged by burns."
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