Lebanese woman set on fire by husband over unwanted pregnancy

Lebanese woman, Hana Mohammed Khodor, (L) on her hospital bed in a critical condition, suffering full body burns, after her husband allegedly set her on fire. Khodor (R) before her assault. (Supplied)

• Five-months pregnant woman loses fetus, and is “battling for her life”
• Family friend: Situation “delicate and serious” with hospital bill at thousands of dollars

DUBAI: A Lebanese woman is battling for her life after being set on fire by her husband, who assaulted her over an undesired pregnancy amid Lebanon’s economic crisis.
Hana Mohammed Khodor, 21, was rushed to a hospital in Lebanon in critical condition, suffering full body burns, after her husband allegedly set her on fire using the house gas cylinder.
The husband, identified as A.A., was alleged to have beaten his five-months pregnant wife brutally and fought with her because she had refused to abort the baby, local media reported.
A.A. was said to have not wanted the child to avoid extra financial burdens, with he and his wife from poor backgrounds in the northern city of Tripoli.
When contacted by Arab News, a doctor from Al-Salam Hospital said Khodor was admitted on Aug. 6 “suffering of 100 percent body burns.”
The doctor said: “As we speak, she is battling for her life. She is between life and death in the intensive care unit. Hana was five months pregnant when the incident happened. The baby died and we had to operate on her to remove the fetus. Her chances of survival are very bleak.”
A medical report says her injuries are third-degree burns and that she is on life support. Attending doctors have waived their daily fees, which still leaves the impoverished Khodor family with a daily cost of $400, excluding treatments, operations and reconstructive surgeries.
According to Al-Salam Hospital’s medical report, if she survives, she will need three months of further treatment.
A family friend, Abdul Rahman Haddad, told Arab News that her situation is “too delicate and serious,” and her hospital bill is already in the thousands of dollars.
“She needs 15 blood platelets (transfusions) daily, and each costs $100, aside from the daily costs of the hospital bed, medical equipment and ICU treatment. Her family is extremely poor, and she is a young woman … they need any form of medical assistance,” said Haddad.
Lebanese Internal Security Forces arrested the husband, who had been planning to flee the country, Haddad said.
The victim’s aunt told a local TV station that A.A. beat his wife brutally to coerce her into aborting the fetus. “When she refused to abort the baby, he took her home and set her on fire using the gas cylinder,” she said.
Khodor’s father called on the public to visit the hospital and pay as much as they could afford to help treat and save his daughter’s life.
Doctor Gabriel Al-Sabe’e said Khodor undergoes several operations daily since she was admitted to hospital.
“She is on life support and gets resuscitated daily. Her situation is extremely critical due to the severity, and huge areas of her body that got burned,” he added.