A woman set her daughter to fire for marrying the man of her choice today, police said. The 18-year-old girl died on the spot.

The victim, a resident of Mast Iqbal Road, had eloped with a man she liked and who her family disapproved of, said Station House Officer (SHO) Sheikh Hammad Akhtar.

Two days before the incident, the family coaxed the deceased to come back home on the pretext that they will send her off with their consent. However, when once she returned, her mother doused her with petrol and set her alight.

Police claim the victim's mother, while professing her crime, admitted to pouring petrol on her daughter and then torching her.

The police shifted the girl's body to a mortuary and arrested her mother.

Second Division Superintendent Police Ibadat Nisar said the deceased girl's brother, who had arrived from Dubai, has been missing since the incident happened, and police is looking for him.

There has been no mention of the victim's husband since her death.

Earlier this month, a 19-year-old school teacher was set on fire in Murree for refusing to marry a man twice her age.

Last month, police arrested 13 members of a local tribal council who allegedly strangled a local girl and set her body on fire for helping one of her friends elope.

The charred body of 17-year-old Ambreen Riasat was found in a burned van in the tourist resort of Donga Gali on April 29.

Nearly 1,000 women are killed each year in Pakistan in so-called “honour killings” for allegedly violating conservative norms on love and marriage.

Copyright: Dawn/Asia News Network