Pakistani woman ‘beaten and has head shaved’ after refusing to dance for husband

Asma Aziz accuses husband, who is now under arrest, of torture

A Pakistani woman has accused her husband of beating her and shaving her head after she refused his alleged demands she dance in front of his friends.

Asma Aziz, from Lahore, posted a video on social media last month which showed her with a bruised face and a shaven head.

In the video she accused her husband, Mian Faisal, of torturing her after she refused to dance at their home in Lahore’s Defence Housing Authority (DHA) district.

“He took my clothes off in front of his servants. The servants held me as he shaved my hair off and burned it. My clothes were bloody. I was bound by a pipe and hung from the fan. He threatened to hang me naked,” she said, according to a translation by the BBC.

Mr Faisal – who has denied torture – and a servant are both reportedly in police custody.

In her video, Ms Aziz said she went to police but officers initially procrastinated. Local media reported her husband and the servant were only detained after Pakistan’s interior minister became aware of the incident and ordered officers to take action.

The police denied any delays, and claimed they were prevented from entering the couple’s home by workers in the DHA.

The case has raised fresh concerns about women’s safety in Pakistan, with human rights organisation Amnesty International calling for “systemic change” in the country.

“While we are glad that strong and swift action has been taken against the torturers of Asma Aziz, we note with dismay the alarming rise in reported cases of violence against women,” Amnesty International South Asia tweeted.

“Systemic change to protect women is necessary. Action can’t only be taken on a case-by-case basis.”

According to the BBC, which has seen papers filed to Lahore police, Ms Aziz’s lawyers argued the case had caused “wider restlessness and anxiety to society” and should be tried under a stricter anti-terrorism law.

Mr Faisal reportedly argued his wife was cutting her hair under the influence of drugs, and that he – also on drugs – helped her do it.

The incident has sparked fury on Pakistani social media. Pakistani singer Sanam Saeed tweeted: “When will some of you really understand the meaning of consent?”

Pakistan ranks 133rd of 189 countries on the United Nations’s 2017 Gender Inequality Index, which ranks countries according to levels of gender discrimination in reproductive health, empowerment and economic status.