Dubai: A pregnant Lebanese woman was severely beaten and was set on fire by her husband for refusing to have an abortion, local media reported.
The 21-year-old Hana Mohammad Khodur died of severe burns on Wednesday after 11 days at Al Salam Hospital in Tripoli, northern Lebanon.
Doctors at the hospital said the unborn baby died in the victim’s womb before being surgically removed.
According to media reports, a row over the unwanted unborn baby erupted between the victim and her husband who asked her to abort their baby because he would not be able to raise the child in a country that is in the midst of worst economic and financial crisis in the world.
Abdul Rahman Haddad, the victim’s cousin, told media that the husband set Hana on fire after she refused to abort the foetus. The suspect was arrested as he was planning to flee the country.