Family slits throats of young couple over love marriage

Human Rights Commission Pakistan says 869 honour killings were reported last year.


Reuters June 28, 2014

LAHORE: A young couple in Satrah, Punjab was tied up and had their throats slit with scythes after they married for love, police said on Saturday.

The 17-year-old girl and 31-year-old man married on June 18 without the consent of their families, according to police.

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 Zahid.

"When the couple reached there, they tied them with ropes," said Zahid. "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 a less important tribe.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said 869 so-called "honour killings" were reported in the media last year. But the true figure is probably much higher since many cases are never reported.

The government does not collect centralised statistics and has no strategy to combat the killings.

Even if a woman's killer is convicted, Pakistani law allows her family to forgive the killer. Many families simply nominate a member to do the killing, then formally forgive the killer.

That's what happened earlier this week, a lawyer said, when a tribal council in Muzaffargarh district sentenced another young couple to death for marrying for love.

The couple's lawyer, Zia Kiyyani, said the two had appealed for police protection after their marriage on June 21, but had not received any.

The 19-year-old girl's family came to take her from her husband's family, swearing on the Quran that they would not harm her and would hold a proper wedding ceremony, he said.

"During this the girl shouted, cried and mourned for her life and her husband's life because she knew that they will kill both of them," he said.

The girl, named Mehreen Bibi, was shot by a member of her family when she returned home, police said. Her husband went into hiding and her father registered the murder complaint so he could forgive the killer, Kiyyani said. "That will end the case," he said.

COMMENTS (7)

Liberal | 9 years ago | Reply

@V. C. Bhutani: Mr Un-informed, Islam allows love marriages. A bride and groom have the right to chose the partner of their liking. Don't try and blend cultural backwardness with Islam. If you want to know what Islam is, read the scripture and not look at its followers, as they say.

Mirza | 9 years ago | Reply

In our land of pure only blowing up, maiming, murders and hatred is a part of everyday life. How dare they tried to love instead of hate.

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