Four given death sentence in Pak. for honour killing

A Pakistani court sentenced four men to death on Wednesday over the mob killing of a woman who married against her family’s wishes, a court official said.

Farzana Perveen, who was pregnant at the time, was beaten to death by her father and other relatives outside a courthouse in the eastern city of Lahore on May 27. The father surrendered to police after the killing and was among those sentenced to death.

She was going to the Lahore High Court in connection with a kidnapping case filed by her family against the woman and her husband. One of the attackers claimed to be Perveen’s husband, saying the woman married another man without divorcing him.

Court official Imtiaz Ahmed said the woman’s father, two brothers and the man who claimed to be the woman’s husband were sentenced to death. He said a fifth man was sentenced to 10 years in jail.

Pakistan h0as one of the highest rates of violence against women globally. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, a private group, says some 869 women were murdered in honour killings in 2013.