(THE HUFFINGTON POST) – An 18-year-old Pakistani girl has survived being shot and thrown into a canal for marrying the man she loved, police have said.
Police official Ali Akbar told Reuters Saba Maqsood had been attacked by a group consisting of her father, uncle, brother and aunt.
“It is an honour-related incident”, he said. Maqsood is currently being treated in hospital in Hafizabad, Punjab Province.
Akbar added: “They took her to Hafizabad, shot her twice and threw her in the canal after putting her in a sack, presuming she was dead.”
Mustafa Qadri, a Pakistan researcher for Amnesty International told Huffington Post UK via email: “It’s hard to imagine the trauma Saba Maqsood has gone through, shot, dumped in a river, left for dead by her own family.
“There is no honour in such barbaric brutality. Hundreds of women and girls are victims of so-called ‘honour’ killings in Pakistan every year, but the perpetrators are rarely brought to justice.
“The Pakistani authorities must ensure that all of the individuals responsible for this vicious attempted murder are brought to justice and that Saba Maqsood is provided with proper protection immediately.”
The act is an appalling echo of the fatal so-called “honour killing” of a pregnant Pakistani woman last month.
The 25-year-old was three months pregnant and was reportedly attending court to insist she had married her husband Mohammad Iqbal out of love and her own free will.
Farzana was allegedly set upon by members of her own family, who had tried to organise an arranged marriage with her cousin.
But in a dramatic twist since her death, Farazna’s elder sister Khalida Bibi has accused Iqbal of being responsible for the fatal attack.
Iqbal denies the accusation but admits to killing his first wife. Five suspects have been arrested in the case.
Farzana’s death drew international condemnation and prompted Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to demand “immediate action.”
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said that in 2011, 943 women were killed for apparently causing shame to their families.
The figure is an increase of more than 100 in 2010.
