Pakistan girl ‘fated’ to die in acid attack—mother

In this picture taken on March 16, 2012, in Multan shows Mureed Abbas, field officer of Acid Survivors Foundation, as he holds a bottle of acid for sale at a shop for 40 Pakistan rupees (0.44 USD). A Pakistani mother who killed her teenage daughter by dousing her with acid for looking at a boy has told the BBC it was the girl’s destiny to die in this way. AFP /BAY ISMOYO

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—A Pakistani mother who killed her teenage daughter by dousing her with acid for looking at a boy has told the BBC it was the girl’s destiny to die in this way.

Police in Pakistan-administered Kashmir arrested Mohammad Zafar and his wife, Zaheen, for the October 29 attack on their daughter Anusha, 15, who died in hospital two days later after suffering horrific acid burns.

So-called “honor” attacks are common in deeply conservative Pakistan. Rights activists say more than 900 women were murdered last year after being accused of bringing shame on the family in some way.

Speaking from their police cells, the father told the BBC they had warned Anusha before about looking at boys, while the mother described how her daughter had begged for forgiveness.

“She said, ‘I didn’t do it on purpose, I won’t do it again,” the mother, whose own arm bore an injury from the acid, told the BBC.

“By then I had thrown the acid. It was her destiny to die this way.”

The parents waited two days to take Anusha to hospital. A doctor told AFP the teenager arrived in a “very critical condition” with almost 70 percent burns.