The Daily Mail, UK
written by Damien Gayle
Friday June 6, 2014
A teenager survived being shot twice and thrown in a canal by her family for marrying the man she loved, police in Pakistan said.
Saba Maqsood was attacked by her father, uncle, brother and aunt before she was tossed into the canal, said Ali Akbar, a spokesman for police in Hafizabad, Punjab province.
It comes just a week-and-a-half after the broad daylight 'honour killing' of another woman in a city centre drew worldwide condemnation.
Mr Akbar told Reuters that the most recent case was also 'an honour-related incident'.
'The victim, Saba ... married her neighbour Muhammad Qaiser for love five days ago against the wishes of her family,' he said.
'They took her to Hafizabad, shot her twice and threw her in the canal after putting her in a sack, presuming that she was dead.'
Mr Akbar said Ms Maqsood was wounded in her cheek and her right hand. Her relatives fled the scene, he said, and after minutes in the water she regained consciousness and struggled to the bank, where passers-by helped her.
'She is a brave girl. She came out of the canal and approached a nearby fuel station from where a rescue team rushed her to hospital,' he said.
Many conservative Pakistani families believe it is dishonourable for a woman to fall in love and choose her own husband. Women from such families are expected to agree to arranged marriages. Refusal can lead to honour killings.
Last month a Pakistani woman called Farzana Iqbal was attacked and killed by suspected family members because she had married the man she loved.
The case drew intense global attention, including condemnation from the United Nations, in part because it the killing was so brazen. It happened in the centre of the city of Lahore, Pakistan's cultural capital.
But many other incidents remain unreported. In 2013, 869 such cases were reported in the media, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, but the true figure is believed to be higher.
Mr Akbar said he had recorded a statement from Ms Maqsood in which she blamed her family for the attack.
'I was tortured and shot by my father Maqsood Ahmad, brother Faisal Maqsood, uncle Ashfaq Ahmad and his wife Sajida Bibi,' he quoted her as saying.
Mr Akbar added: 'Her condition is out of danger and we have registered a case against her family on her complaint.'
Police had raided her father's home in the nearby city of Gujranwala but all the suspects had disappeared, he said.
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