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Man burns wife for not asking parents to give Rs 50,000: Burn victim yearns for son

* Kiran’s mother alleges that her daughter’s in-laws are not returning child
* Girl’s father says he will not contest custody

By Rana Tanveer

LAHORE: Kiran Shehzadi (21), who was allegedly set on fire by her husband, is in critical condition in a hospital and crying for a glimpse of her two-month-old suckling baby, who she claims her in-laws snatched from her.

Kiran’s husband Mir Ali allegedly threw petrol on her and then lit her, while she was asleep at night. The victim’s mother alleged that Ali had asked her daughter to ask her parents for Rs 50,000. She said Ali burnt the girl after she refused to meet the demand. When the Daily Times team visited the hospital, Kiran could not speak properly and was crying for her child. Her mother Rubina was consoling her by telling her that it was actually she who had taken the child home. Kiran was brought to Mayo Hospital from Narowal on Saturday. She has burn injuries to 80 percent of her body, including her face, head, arms, hands, chest, belly, sensitive body parts and thighs.

Not returning: Rubina told Daily Times she had tried to take the baby from Kiran’s in-laws, but they were not willing to hand the child to her. She said Kiran keeps calling for her son, Hassnain Ali, and the family kept telling her that he was at Kiran’s parents’ house.

Rubina said Ali, a mason by profession, had been telling Kiran to ask her parents to arrange Rs 50,000 for a long time. She said on the day of the incident he insisted that she bring the money, and set her on fire when she refused. Rubina said Kiran had already provided Ali a lot of money borrowed from her parents during the 16 months of their marriage. “Even the petrol he used to burn my daughter was taken from the motorcycle we presented him as dowry.” Kiran’s father, Muhammad Younas, told Daily Times he did not live too far away from the house of Kiran’s in-laws, but they still did not bother to inform him about the incident. He said some neighbours of his daughter’s in-laws informed him, and he rushed to a local hospital in Narowal but was told that the girl had been moved to Mayo Hospital in Lahore.

No custody: Younas said he had five daughters and two sons, of whom only Kiran was married. He said Hassnain was Ali’s child and the girl’s family would not ask for his custody. He said he found out that Kiran had been burnt only when he reached the Mayo Hospital, and her in-laws had fled by then. He said he registered an FIR with the Baddo Malhi Police in Narowal against Mir Ali. He claimed that the neighbours in Narowal had told him that when they reached the scene after hearing Kiran’s cries, Ali started extinguishing the fire to pretend as if she had tried to commit suicide.

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