Pakistan: Mother 'burnt her daughter to death' over marriage
Police in the Pakistani city of Lahore have arrested a woman suspected of murdering her daughter for marrying without family consent.
Police say the body of Zeenat Rafiq shows signs of torture. She was tied to a bed, doused with fuel and set alight.
Her mother Parveen is accused of luring her back from her in-laws.
It is the third such case in a month in Pakistan, where attacks on women who go against conservative rules on love and marriage are common.
Last week a young school teacher, Maria Sadaqat, was set on fire in Murree near Islamabad for refusing a marriage proposal. She died of her injuries.
-----------------------------------
Punjab province, where the two latest attacks happened, passed a landmark law in February criminalising all forms of violence against women.
However, more than 30 religious groups, including all the mainstream Islamic political parties, threatened to launch protests if the law was not repealed.
The Council of Islamic Ideology, which advises the government, then proposed making it legal for husbands to "lightly beat" their wives. It came under fire as a result.
(continued)
