An Iraqi woman was pictured writing in pain on her hospital bed after she was allegedly set alight by her abusive husband before dying of her wounds according to The Daily Mail.
Malak Haider al-Zubaidi, 20, was photographed in hospital in the city of Najaf last week before dying of multiple organ failure caused by her burns on Saturday.
Husband Mohammed Al Mayahli, a police officer, is now facing calls for prosecution along with his family which is said to include a high-ranking member of the military.
Malak’s family say he was abusive to her and had cut off all contact for the last eight months, causing her to become distressed.
They further said that on the day she was burned, Mohammed attacked her with a phone charging cable before she was doused in petrol and set alight.
He has denied the attack, uploading a post to social media claiming that she was suffering mental illness and set herself alight.
Activists accuse the family of acting above the law because Mohammed’s father is a general in the army.
Following the outrage, an investigation has been launched.
Iraq’s penal code gives husbands the right to ‘discipline’ their wives and there are no laws which criminalise domestic violence.
However, the country’s constitution prohibits ‘all forms of violence and abuse in the family’.
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