MULTAN: A young Pakistani woman died on Tuesday after a rejected suitor set her ablaze for refusing his marriage proposal, a doctor said.

Sonia Bibi, 20, was admitted to hospital last month, where she told police that her former lover Latif Ahmed had doused her with petrol and set her alight after she turned down his proposal.

Medical staff had originally said she would recover, but a doctor in Multan's Nishtar hospital told AFP that Bibi's injuries had become infected and that she died on Tuesday morning.

About 45 to 50 per cent of her body had been burned in the attack, doctor Naheed Chaudhry, the head of the hospital's burns department told AFP.

The incident took place in a remote village of Multan district in central Punjab province. Police have arrested the 24-year-old suspect.

Bibi had told police that she had fallen out of love with Ahmed, and preliminary investigations suggested he had set her on fire "after she refused to marry him".

Hundreds of women are murdered in Pakistan each year in cases of domestic violence or on the grounds of defending family "honour".

The Aurat Foundation, a campaign group that works to improve the lives of women in Pakistan, says more than 3,000 women have been killed in such attacks since 2008.

Also read: Woman 'set on fire for refusing marriage proposal' in Multan

Opinion

Editorial

Narcotic darkness
08 May, 2024

Narcotic darkness

WE have plenty of smoke with fire. Citizens, particularly parents, caught in Pakistan’s grave drug problem are on...
Saudi delegation
08 May, 2024

Saudi delegation

PLANS to bring Saudi investment to Pakistan have clearly been put on the fast track. Over the past month, Prime...
Reserved seats
Updated 08 May, 2024

Reserved seats

The truth is that the entire process — from polls, announcement of results, formation of assemblies and elections to the Senate — has been mishandled.
Impending slaughter
Updated 07 May, 2024

Impending slaughter

Seven months into the slaughter, there are no signs of hope.
Wheat investigation
07 May, 2024

Wheat investigation

THE Shehbaz Sharif government is in a sort of Catch-22 situation regarding the alleged wheat import scandal. It is...
Naila’s feat
07 May, 2024

Naila’s feat

IN an inspirational message from the base camp of Nepal’s Mount Makalu, Pakistani mountaineer Naila Kiani stressed...