A woman who had allegedly self-immolated, died at a hospital in Kirkuk after seven days. The police say she had said that she was mentally distressed.
The 23-year-old woman allegedly set herself on fire on 21 October at her parents’ home in Kirkuk’s Panja-Ali neighbourhood.
A relative of the woman, who wished to remain unnamed, told KirkukNow: “The woman’s home is in Ma’askar Khalid, but she has been separated from her husband since a month ago and was living with her parents in Panja-Ali [neighbourhood].”
According to the source the rate of her burns was 85%.
The woman married her current husband two years ago and the two have a daughter. Both had been married once before.
No suspect has been detained.
The woman had previously filed a complaint against her husband
Amir Nuri, the spokesman for Kirkuk Police, told KirkukNow that in her statement to the police at the hospital, the woman has said that she had been distressed that’s why she poured heating fuel over herself and set herself on fire.
The incident happened around 3:25 AM. Two of her brothers informed a nearby police station.
Nuri says that no one has been detained because the woman has not accused anyone. “After sending the case to the court, it will be closed by the judge.”
The woman’s relative says that after her separation from her husband, she had filed a complaint against him at the anti-domestic violence branch of Kirkuk Police.
According to official numbers, 210 domestic violence cases have been registered from February to October, including 190 women who have been subjected to violence by their husbands.
After sending the case to the court, it will be closed by the judge
Statistics from the Kirkuk Office of the High Commission for Human Rights in Iraq show that 38 suicides have been recorded in Kirkuk since the beginning of this year, 20 of them were women.
Sroud Muhammad, head of the Iraqi al-Amal (Hope) Association office in Kirkuk, talked to KirkukNow and urged fathers and mothers not to marry their daughters at an early age, and to support their married daughters while they are experiencing problems in their marital life to relieve psychological pressure on them.
Sroud Muhammad stressed the need to punish people who force women to commit suicide, "Unfortunately, there is a legal vacuum and we have been calling for years to pass the law against domestic violence, but parliament has not voted on the law yet."
The draft law against domestic violence was approved by the Council of Ministers of Ministers several months ago and was submitted to Parliament for discussion.
According to the Iraqi government statistics, cases of domestic violence increased during the lockdown months. In the first six months of the year, more than 5000 cases have been registered.
