KARACHI, Nov 3: A 24-year-old woman set on fire allegedly by her police constable husband in Saudabad in the early hours of Saturday is fighting for her life at the burns centre of the Civil Hospital Karachi, officials said.

They added that Tauqir Fatima, a resident of Saudabad B Area, was admitted late at night with more than 90 per cent burns.

“She was taken to hospital by her husband, Abdul Hasan, who is a police constable and posted at the Memon Goth police station,” said Hasan Haider, the SHO of the Saudabad police station.

“He initially stated that his wife sustained burn wounds while working in the kitchen but the victim later alleged that her husband had attacked her.”

The suspect was arrested after an FIR was lodged against him under Section 324 (attempted murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of his wife, he said.

“Hasan and Fatima got married recently: it was her third marriage and his second,” said the SHO of the Saudabad police station.

Doctors at the burns centre said the woman was in a critical condition, adding that she had been set on fire with kerosene. “Her prognosis is not good. She could neither breathe nor speak properly due to severe inhalation injuries,” said Dr Dr Ehmer-al-Ibran, assistant professor and official in charge of the burns centre.