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14 Arrested for Burning Teenage Girl to Death in Pakistan

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Members of a tribal council accused of ordering the burning death of a 16 year old girl are shown to the media after they were arrested by police in Donga Gali, outside Abbottabad
Members of a tribal council accused of ordering the burning death of a 16 year old girl are shown to the media after they were arrested by police in Donga Gali, outside Abbottabad, Pakistan on May 5, 2016.Online News TPX/Reuters
By Julia Zorthian

Fourteen people in a village in northwest Pakistan were arrested Thursday for burning a teenager to death because she helped her friend elope.

Police say the crime was a “pre-planned” honor killing, perpetrated by village leaders outside of Abbottabad with approval from the village council, the Washington Post reports. Ambreen Riasat had helped her friend marry a boy in court without the bride’s father’s permission, prompting a number of men to drag her from her house, tie her inside a van and set her on fire, according to the paper.

“They said she must be burnt alive to make a lesson for other girls,” said Saeed Wazir, the regional Abbottabad police chief.

On April 29, Riasat’s body was found in the van in Donga Gali.

[Washington Post]

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Write to Julia Zorthian at julia.zorthian@time.com