Domestic Violence Case Highlights Malaise in Society

Her condition is stable, but full treatment is not possible in Pakistan. Even after four months of treatment, her stitches keep coming off, says one doctor by telephone.

Musarrat is one of the worst reported cases of domestic violence, which is common but seldom gets reported in this South Asian country.

''Domestic violence is a broad continuum of behaviours with threats and harassment at one end and homicide at the other,'' said Samantha Lamb, a law student from the Canada-based McGill University, in a report on domestic violence for the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

A 1998 survey by the Pakistan Women Lawyers Association says that 30 percent of rural women and 17 percent of urban women reported physical abuse by their husbands -- though experts say these are still an underestimation.

Activists say a real weakness is the Pakistani government's failure so far to enact a specific law to curb domestic violence. For instance, the military government of President Gen Pervez Musharraf amended the Family Law Courts Act 1964 in 2002 to enable these courts to deal with offences between spouses.

But lawyers find this limitation to spouses too narrow, saying violence can be committed by any family member - an argument that appears to have been bolstered by Musarrat's ordeal at the hands of her in-laws.

Penalties under existing laws are too lenient, lawyers argue. Lawyer Nadir Altaf says, persons who carry out assault or the use of criminal force, other than on grave and sudden provocation, can be imprisoned for just up to three months or be fined only 500 rupees (nine U.S. dollars).

''Domestic violence, if it is not causing grave injury, is incognisable for all intents and purposes,'' explained Altaf.

Musarrat's case combines elements of a patriarchial culture, conservative attitudes and poverty, represented by her husband's absence due to his working in Greece.

Activists hope the high-profile case will keep up the pressure in a society that otherwise largely ignores domestic violence in the name of tradition and it being a 'private matter'.

The story of Musarrat, who hails from Chak 75-NB village near Sargodha, a town three hours' drive from Lahore, began with her marriage four years ago to a distant cousin, who took off to Greece a year later.

''I continued to live with my in-laws, and it was going all right though there were usual household problems and arguments,'' Musarrat said in a frail voice, as her three-year-old son stood by during the interview with IPS.

According to local papers in Sargodha, Musarrat's relationship with her in-laws started to go downhill when her husband refused to send money to his brothers or mother after establishing a steady income a year ago.

However, other papers said that it was Musarrat's family's refusal to marry her sister to her (Musarrat's) brother-in law that led to the brutal amputation.

Too frail to talk at length, Musarrat said that her relationship with her in-laws continued to deteriorate. Verbal abuse was followed by physical abuse. She would be slapped and canned by her mother- in-law, and insulted and teased constantly by her husband's brothers.

Her husband could not come home since he is an irregular migrant, who had paid hundreds of thousands of rupees to human traffickers get to Europe.

Interventions by Musarrat's family to protect her led to threats by in-laws that she would be divorced, a practice that carries stigma in a society where the onus of divorce usually falls on the woman.

''People in Pakistan, particularly in traditional rural societies, would do anything to keep a marriage intact. Even an abused woman wouldn't find support from her own family if she wanted out of her marriage,'' Namoos Zaheer, a consultant with the Ministry of Women's Development, said.

''Divorced women are not just considered a financial liability by their families but more importantly, a socially unjustifiable burden,'' said Namoos, who was part of a government team that travelled to Sargodha to look into Musarrat's case.

Musarrat's family backed off. But in January, her in-laws started to accuse Musarrat of meeting a man out in the fields in early mornings, when woman usually go out to relieve themselves in the absence of sanitation facilities at home.

Charges of extramarital affairs are often used in tribal set-ups to punish women and to get social acceptability for crimes perpetrated against them.

Musarrat denied having any such relationship, but the fury of her in-laws led to the amputation on the morning of Feb. 7. After tying her on to the bed, her brother-in law, her mother-in-law and the husband of her sister in-law chopped her legs bit by bit. She lost consciousness due to profuse bleeding.

The fear of being caught ultimately took over their rage, so they dipped Musarrat in hot oil to try to stop the bleeding. They took her to hospital after neighbours found out about Musarrat's condition - and told doctors at the Sargodha hospital that somebody cast a spell on Musarrat and her legs fell off.

Rubina Bhatti, who works with a local rights group in Sargodha, says that Musarrat and her family have come under pressure from their ''biradari'' (clan) to withdraw charges and compromise. ''But public pressure and support from civil society have boosted their morale and they are now adamant on pursuing the case in courts to its logical end.''

''The programme by Geo (a private television channel) on Musarrat's ordeal has mobilised offers of support from all over the world,'' said Bhatti, adding that U.S. doctors are trying to fly her there for treatment and to get her artificial limbs.

Meantime, women's groups say the case points to the need for a law that addresses the specific risks women face in domestic violence. But this will not happen at least until September, when the government's adviser on women's issues, Nilofer Bakhtiar, says that such a law will be presented to the parliament.