A Pakistani woman has been accused of killing 17 people with poisoned milk in a botched attempt to murder her husband.
Aasia Bibi, 21, was married against her will in September, and members of her extended family had thwarted her attempts to escape.
Police say her boyfriend gave her a poison, which she mixed into a milk drink for her husband, but he didn't drink it.
Her new mother-in-law then used the milk to make a yoghurt drink, not realising it was poisoned. The tainted yoghurt was served to 27 family members, and 17 of them died.
Police have arrested Bibi and her boyfriend Shahid Lashari, who will be questioned for two weeks to determine whose idea it was.
"I repeatedly asked my parents not to marry me against my will as my religion, Islam, also allows me to choose the man of my choice for marriage," Bibi told the court on Tuesday (local time). "But my parents rejected all of my pleas and they married me to a relative."
She said she only intended to kill her unwanted husband, and is remorseful.
Though technically illegal, it's believed hundreds - possibly thousands - of forced marriages take place in Pakistan every year.
Newshub.
