Woman 'set on fire by husband’s parents for remaining childless after three years of marriage'

Victim's parents-in-law now in custody

(AFP/ GETTY IMAGES)

A woman in Pakistan has reportedly been set on fire by her husband and his parents for failing to conceive after three years of marriage.

Aasia Bibi told police that her husband, Ameer Islam and his parents doused her in petrol and set her on fire in their house in Okara, a small city in the country's north east.

The woman’s neighbours heard her screaming and rushed to her house, according to a local police report.

She was then taken to the District Headquarters Hospital in Okara, according to the Dawn newspaper..

Ms Bibi is reportedly in a critical condition in hospital, which could have been worse were she not immediately taken to hospital by her neighbours, the Express Tribune reports.

She is said to have been admonished on a daily basis by her husband’s parents for not conceiving throughout her marriage.

Police have arrested Ms Bibi’s in-laws and two other accomplices in connection with the crime.

District police officer Hasan Asad Alvi told the newspaper Ms Bibi’s husband was not at home at the time of the crime but that he will be questioned as part of the investigation.