MULTAN, May 28: A young woman, said to be the victim of an honour-related crime, has undergone preliminary plastic surgery on her slit nostril at the Nishtar Hospital. A similar surgery on her upper lip will be done next week.

Surgeon Dr Naheed Chaudhry told Dawn that 18-year-old Ayesha Baloch had been brought to the hospital from Dera Ghazi Khan a few days ago with deep slits in her nose and upper lip.

He said the complete surgery and subsequent recovery would take at least eight weeks. “Expenses of her treatment are being met by the hospital on the orders of the provincial government,” he added.

Ayesha’s nose and lips were cut allegedly by her husband Esa Khosa, his brother Akbar and father Mir Jan in Peepalwala village.

Police said she had been living with her parents since her estrangement from her husband following a domestic dispute.

On May 21, Esa, his brother and father came to her parents and persuaded them to end the dispute and send Ayesha with them.

On their way back, Esa and his brother Akbar reportedly dragged her to a field, held her down and cut the nose and upper lip and ran away, leaving her unconscious and profusely bleeding.

She was taken to the Dera DHQ hospital where she was provided first aid. Later, she was referred to the Nishtar Hospital because plastic surgery facility was not available at the Dera hospital.

Police have arrested Esa, Akbar and their father Mir Jan. The accused are in judicial custody. A police official at Dera’s Saddar police station said that during interrogation the accused claimed that they had doubts about Ayesha’s character.

Ayesha’s sister is married to Akbar while Esa’s sister, who was married to her brother Mohammad Shakir, reportedly committed suicide about eight years ago under mysterious circumstances.