Honour killing: 3 women in a family shot dead in Pakistan bymale relatives

3 young women of the same family were shot
dead on Wednesday, May 11 by male relatives
who suspected them of having relations with men.

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

According to police, the women Zahara, Farzana
and her step-mother Nasreen — residents of Chak
92 Rb in Faisalabad district - were found dead by
residents after they heard gunshots in the morning.

Three men had fled the scene before the
neighbours arrived.

"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 Mohammed Ayub.

The police said initial investigations revealed that
Farzana’s husband Wahid alias Baga, Zahara’s
husband Saqib and his brother had exchanged
harsh words with the women before the incident.
The neighbours confirmed that the family members
had an argument before they heard the gunshots.

According to local residents, the husband was not
happy with his wife and daughter.

A murder case has been registered against the
three suspects at Balochni police station on the
complaint of Zahra’s father. The police are
conducting raids in different parts of the city to
arrest the suspects.

Nearly 1,100 women were killed in Pakistan in
2015 by their relatives, who believed they had
dishonoured their families, the Human Rights
Commission of Pakistan said in a report released
in April.

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.

Source:Newsweek Pakistan