Pakistani Woman Poisoned 27 People Over Her Arranged Marriage

Bryan Michalek | November 2, 2017
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A newly married woman in Pakistan has been arrested for allegedly poisoning her husband's milk and accidentally killing 17 other people in their wedding party, according to authorities. 

According to Newsweek, 21-year-old Aasia Bibi had been forced to marry a relative by her family in September, despite them knowing about a relationship she was engaged in with another man. In a quote obtained by the Associated Press Bibi said:

I repeatedly asked my parents not to marry me against my will as my religion, Islam, also allows me to choose the man of my choice for marriage, but my parents rejected all of my pleas and they married me to a relative.

After the arranged wedding took place Bibi continued her relationship with her lover, a man named Shahid Lashari, and made an attempt to flee and return to her family. When that plan failed, Bibi's lover reportedly gave her the poison to kill her husband and nullify the marriage. 

Bibi allegedly mixed the substance with milk with the intent of serving it only to her husband, but her mother-in-law had inadvertently used the milk to make a drink and served it to 27 members of her extended family, accidentally killing 17 and putting the rest in the hospital. 

While bizarre, it's not the first time this has happened. Pakistani media reported a similar case in which a woman, unhappy with her arranged marriage, poisoned her husband with tainted milk.

Faisal Chingwani, a top human rights activist in the Pakistani city of Multan, told the Associated Press that Bibi "apparently committed the crime because she was mentally stressed about the forced marriage." This is a common practice in Pakistan and often leaves many young women in marriages they don't want to be in. 

Pakistan parliament recently increased the punishment for violating a ban on child marriages. But until the Middle Eastern nation puts more focus on women's rights an implements practical ways to enforce laws protecting women, more women will find themselves in situations where poisoning their husbands seem like viable options.

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