Pakistan family kills couple for marrying

Father kills young daughter and her newlywed husband for marrying without family’s consent in eastern Pakistan.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan say 869 so-called "honour killings" were reported last year [EPA]

A young couple in Pakistan has been tied up and had their throats slit with scythes after they married for love, police have said in what is the latest reported case of so-called “honour killings” in the country.

The 17-year-old girl and 31-year-old man married on June 18 without the consent of their families in eastern Pakistan’s Punjabi village of Satrah, police said on Saturday.

The girl’s mother and father lured the couple home late on Thursday with the promise that their marriage would receive a family blessing, said local police official Rana Zashid.

“When the couple reached there, they tied them with ropes,” he said. “He [the girl’s father] cut their throats.”

Police arrested the family, who said they had been embarrassed by the marriage of their daughter, named Muafia Hussein, to a man from, what they consider, a less important tribe.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said 869 “honour killings” were reported in the media last year – several a day.

But the true figure is probably much higher since many cases are never reported. The Pakistan government does not collect centralised statistics.

Source: Reuters