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Pakistan Arrests Man For Allegedly Beating His Wife For Refusing To Dance


Asma Aziz as seen in a video circulating widely on social media
Asma Aziz as seen in a video circulating widely on social media

Pakistani police have arrested a man in the eastern city of Lahore for allegedly beating his wife in public after the incident sparked wide condemnation and uproar on social media.

Mohammad Faisal is believed to have been habitually beating his wife, to whom he has been married for four years, police official Mahboob Hussain said, adding that the arrest took place on March 27.

A second man, whose identity was not revealed, was also arrested in the case.

Faisal's wife, Asma Aziz, complained that he had stripped her naked, beat her, and shaved her head for refusing to dance for his friends at their home.

Police said in a statement that the incident had taken place in Lahore's Defense Housing Authority area, a neighborhood originally built for army officers.

The date the incident occurred is unclear.

In a video circulating on social media in which she appears with a shaven head and bruises on her face and head, Asma claims that her husband had "always hit her a lot."



Domestic abuse of women is common in Pakistan, but it is seldom discussed in public or on social media.

Hussain says police are also looking for any of Faisal's friends who witnessed the beating.

With reporting by AP and dawn.com

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