Why Women Fear their Stoves in Pakistan

Incidents of stove burning usually conceal the ugly reality of the murder of or brutality against innocent women. This fact has been proven by judgments in several cases where innocent women were reportedly killed by their in-laws, but the case registered citied the death as an accidental one.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has said that incidents of stove burning are used as a lethal weapon against women and are a recognised form of domestic violence. According to the data accumulated by the HRCP, over 1,000 cases of kitchen accidents (stove burning or gas explosions) were reported in the last 10 years. In most cases, the victims were either killed or critically injured.