Honour killing: Pak woman murdered over inter-caste marriage

Islamabad: A woman was brutally murdered by three of her family members for marrying a man from a different caste. The incident took place in the eastern town of Sahiwal in Pakistan, a police source told Efe.

Farzana, 20, was killed by three of her family members who were against her inter-caste marriage to Shabir, 26. She was first taken home and then butchered with a sickle.

“The victim’s relatives kept chasing the couple, following which the two jumped off a moving train”, Ejaz Ullah, a police officer from Sahiwal, said. The family later convinced the woman to return to the town, where in front of the panchayat the two conflicting tribal clans accepted the marriage. The murder took place after the panchayat decision was made.

The victim’s uncle has been detained by the police while two other suspects are still at large.

According to the report published by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), 913 women were victims of honour killings in 2012, which declined just slightly to 869 in 2013.

“The murderers enjoy complete impunity,” says the report, as, according to Islamic tradition, the perpetrators can be acquitted if the victim’s family pardons the crime.

IANS