TOBA TEK SINGH: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Faisalabad handed down life term and Rs220m fine to a woman fake faith healer who had set a girl on fire to exorcise ‘jinns’ from her in 2022.

According to the prosecution, the victim girl, Sonia, was reportedly mentally ill and her parents called a woman faith healer, Shamim Bibi, from Jhang who burnt her different body parts of the girl with coal fire. Bibi told the victim’s parents that their daughter would get well soon but she lost her eyes and the fire burnt her various other body parts.

Sonia’s brother, Waseem, registered a first information report (FIR) on Dec 12, 2022, saying that Shamim and her accomplices, two women and a man, had burnt his sister with fire during the so-called treatment. It is to be mentioned that the girl is now permanently blind.

Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2024