Pakistan: Man kills daughter, son-in-law in Lahore for marrying without family consent
A second case of "honour" killing has been reported in Pakistan in just three days after a couple were shot dead for marrying without the permission of their family.
A Lahore man surrendered to police for killing three people on 10 June morning, according to local media reports. Fifty six-year-old Muhammad Ashraf reportedly gunned down his daughter and her husband. The pair had returned to Kahna area of the city, where the girl's family lives, to mend ways with her parents who apparently did not approve of their marriage.
"Eighteen-year-old Saba had married Karamat Ali, who is 35, around a year-and-a-half ago against the will of her family and returned to her home on Thursday night to settle matters with father and other family members," Falak Sher, a local police official was quoted as saying by The Guardian.
Ashraf, who works as a security guard, confessed to killing the couple after having a heated argument with Ali. He also shot his 49-year-old neighbour Mohammad Ikram, who is reported to have helped Saba and Ali elope. The couple are survived by a three-month-old baby boy.
Dawn News reported that Mohammad Usman, brother of the deceased Ikram, had claimed that Ashraf had a financial dispute with his son-in-law.
Earlier this week, another young woman, named Zeenat Rafiq, was burnt alive by her mother in Lahore, in what is seen as another "honour" killing, for marrying a person of her choice. Parveen, the mother of the woman, was arrested on 8 June, and reportedly told police she had "no regrets" about committing the crime.
In a similar incident, in May, a girl was strangled and set on fire for helping a friend elope in the northern district of Abbottabad in Pakistan.
A documentary titled A Girl In The River: The Prince Of Forgiveness, highlighting the issue of "honour" killings in Pakistan, with the story of a rare survivor recounting her experience, won an Oscar in February. The film had spurred the country to pledge to get rid of such killings and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called the crime "un-Islamic."
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