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Maria Abbasi was baby-sitting a younger sister near Murree,
Pakistan, when she was attacked, her family says.
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Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) - An 18 year old Pakistani
schoolteacher died Wednesday from injuries after her body was set on fire for
refusing a marriage proposal, police said.
The perpetrators beat Maria Abbasi, then drenched her in
petrol and set her body ablaze before leaving her for dead, her family members
told CNN.
"Maria was at home baby-sitting her 5-year-old sister
while her family went to a funeral in a nearby town," said Rafaqat Abbasi,
her uncle.
"At the funeral her family was alerted that she 'was on
fire.' Initially the thought was there had been some sort of accident, perhaps
a pipe had burst or something."
The horror of what had happened set in Monday night when her
family returned home to the village of Davel outside Murree in northeastern
Pakistan.
"Maria was lying on the floor, with 85% of her body
covered in burns," the uncle said.
Four men earlier had barged into her parents' home, said
Murree police inspector Sohail Abbasi, who is no relation to the family.
"There is no direct major road that passes through the
village. We had to carry Maria on a chair to the closest road to get her to an
ambulance," said Rafaqat Abbasi, the uncle.
The young woman was taken to the Pakistan Institute of
Medical Sciences in Islamabad, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) away, for
treatment, where she later died.
Three people were arrested Wednesday in Islamabad in
connection with the teenager's killing, said Nabeela Ghazanfar, Punjab police
spokesman.
An arrest warrant is out for a fourth individual, according
to the Murree police inspector.
The chief minister of Punjab province has assigned a
three-member team to investigate the case, according to the Punjab police.
Violence against women remains rampant in the country,
according to the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
In 2015, police formally investigated 76 cases of women
being set on fire, according to the commission's latest report.
-CNN-
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