Home Latest News Three Women of Family Murdered for ‘Honor’

Three Women of Family Murdered for ‘Honor’

by AFP
T. J. Kirkpatrick—AFP

T. J. Kirkpatrick—AFP

Male relatives shot dead the women in Faisalabad for having ‘illicit’ relations with other men.

Three young women in one family were shot dead by male relatives who suspected them of having “illicit relations” with other men, police in Faisalabad said Wednesday.

The women, aged 22, 28 and 29, all lived in the same house.

“The men suspected that the three women had illicit relations with other men and shot them in the chest and face and fled after the murders,” said police investigator Mohammad Ayub.

Police have launched a manhunt, he said, added that it appeared to a case of “honor killings.” Officials at the local police station confirmed the account.

Last week a teenage girl in Pakistan’s northwest was strangled and her body set ablaze after a village council ruled she must die for helping a friend to elope, sparking anger from rights activists.

Hundreds of women are murdered by their relatives in Pakistan each year on the pretext of defending family “honor.”

Pakistan amended its criminal code in 2005 to prevent men who kill female relatives escaping punishment by pardoning themselves as an “heir” of the victim. But it is left to a judge’s discretion to decide whether to impose a prison sentence when other relatives of the victim forgive the killer—a loophole that critics say is still exploited.

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