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The Aurat March Karachi has issued a powerful statement calling for justice for a 19-year-old woman who died after days of being in a coma at Karachi’s Civil Hospital on Wednesday. The young woman succumbed to her injuries after being subjected to brutal sexual violence, allegedly by her husband. Her husband is currently in police custody and is being investigated for her rape.

The young woman was admitted to the trauma centre in a “critical condition”, having undergone a surgical procedure at another hospital, police surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed had told Dawn.com earlier. “Her initial findings were positive for sexual violence,” she said.

Baghdadi SHO Majid Alvi said the girl was married on June 15. “Two days later, the husband subjected her to sodomy” and assaulted her with a metal pipe, leading to deterioration of her health condition. The FIR was registered by the woman’s brother under Sections 324 (attempted murder) and 376-B (punishment for rape) of the Pakistan Penal Code. In the FIR, the brother accused the victim’s husband of subjecting to her brutal sexual violence and “unnatural sex acts”.

In its statement, the Aurat March said, “We are devastated. We are angry. We are heartbroken.”

Highlighting the brutalities the young woman was subjected to, the statement said, “Another girl silenced by brutality. Another life stolen in the name of rape culture.”

They also said, “This is not a ‘private, marital issue’. This is sadistic, calculated torture.”

Their demands include the arrest of the husband’s family, the suspension of the private hospital’s licence until it has been held accountable, putting the doctor who treated her on trial for medical negligence and cover-up and the launching of an independent investigation into the hospital, the doctor and the in-laws.

“Her body is being taken to her ancestral village for burial. When her family returns, we will take to the streets. Aurat March and Minority Rights March will protest. Loud. Relentless. Angry.”