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Husband shaves wife's head in Pakistan for refusing to dance

The issue of domestic violence in Pakistan has been highlighted after a woman claimed her husband tortured her when she refused to dance for him.

Pakistani woman Asma Azia

Pakistani woman Asma Aziz (Photo courtesy - Amnesty International South Asia and (inset) Pakistan's Human Rights Minister) Source: Twitter/AmnestyAsia; Inset: Twitter/Shireen Mazari1

Asma Aziz, from Lahore, claimed that her husband used to beat her during the past four years of their marriage.

In a disturbing video posted on social media, she said faced extreme violence for not dancing when asked.

“He took off my clothes and tortured me in front of his servants at home who helped him shaved my head and burned my hair," she said in the video.

“I was bound by a pipe and hung from the fan. He threatened to hang me naked.

“He has been my husband for four years and has beaten me a lot.”

Aziz accused local police for not helping her when she went to the police station to report the incident.

Her story came into the limelight after her video describing the incident went viral on social media.

Soon after, Pakistan’s Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari wrote on Twitter that they “took notice” of the incident and “action has been taken against the accused.”

Two men, including her husband Mian Faisal, were later arrested by the police.

Amnesty International South Asia has asked Pakistan for a “systemic change” to protect women.

“While we are glad that strong and swift action has been taken against the torturers of Asma Aziz, we note with dismay the alarming rise in reported cases of violence against women. Systemic change to protect women is necessary. Action can’t only be taken on a case-by-case basis,” it said.

Human Rights Watch Pakistan's representative Saroop Ijaz calls this case ‘a representative example of what is horrifyingly common’ [in the country].

“It does [put into] spotlight an issue which is endemic, long-standing, and prevalent; which is of domestic violence.

“The victims feel that going to file a complaint will only expose them to ridicule and more humiliation and possibly more violence. This needs to change.” Human Rights Watch Pakistan.

“Domestic violence in Pakistan is not reported; in rare cases, if it is reported, the level of insensitivity from the criminal justice system is staggering.

“All of this fundamentally boils down to a view enabled by Pakistani law and now widely espoused by the Pakistani society that ‘treatment of woman is a private matter.” Mr Ijaz claims.

Pakistanis have condemned the incident calling the government to stop violence against women. Women rights' activists have termed it a "degrading" incident.

Mr Ijaz says that the confidence in the legal system is a serious issue.

“The victims feel that going to file a complaint will only expose them to ridicule and more humiliation and possibly more violence. This needs to change.”

However, Mr Ijaz says there have been steps taken by the governments in Punjab and Sind such as making progressive laws to counter such incidents.

“We look to the country’s political leadership to bring not only legal but moral leadership on an issue like this.

“I do believe that there is some willingness but it has to transform and translate into more action” he adds.

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3 min read

Published

Updated

By Talib Haider



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