An 18-year-old girl, Saba Maqsood, was shot twice and thrown
in a canal by her family for marrying the man she loved, police in
Pakistan has said.
According to a spokesman for police in
Hafizabad, Punjab province, Ali Akbar, the teenager, who miraculously
survived the gunshots, was attacked by her father, uncle, brother and
aunt before she was tossed into the canal.
It comes just a
week-and-a-half after the broad daylight 'honour killing' of another
woman in a Pakistani city drew worldwide condemnation.
Mr Akbar told Reuters that this latest case was also 'an honour-related incident'.
*Saba Maqsood
'The victim, Saba, married her neighbour Muhammad Qaiser for love five days ago against the wishes of her family,' he said.
'They
took her to Hafizabad, shot her twice and threw her in the canal after
putting her in a sack, presuming that she was dead.'
It was gathered from Akbar that the victim was wounded in her cheek and her right hand.
"She
is a brave girl. She came out of the canal and approached a nearby fuel
station from where a rescue team rushed her to hospital," he said.
Akbar also claimed he had a recorded statement from Ms Maqsood in which she blamed her family for the attack.
*Saba Maqsood
Meanwhile,
reports stated that when Police raided her father's home in the nearby
city of Gujranwala, all the suspects had disappeared.
Many
conservative Pakistani families believe it is not honourable for a woman
to fall in love and choose her own husband. Women from such families
are expected to agree to arranged marriages. Refusal can lead to honour
killings.
Last
month a Pakistani woman called Farzana Iqbal was attacked and killed by
suspected family members because she had married the man she loved.
*Saba Maqsood
The
case drew intense global attention, including condemnation from the
United Nations, in part because it the killing was so brazen. It
happened in the centre of the city of Lahore, Pakistan's cultural
capital.
According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, 869
such cases were reported in the media in 2013 but the true figure is
believed to be higher because many other incidents remain unreported.
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