A pregnant woman in Pakistan was publicly stoned to death by family members on Tuesday, all for the unforgivable crime of marrying the man she wanted to.
Police say that about 20 family members gathered together outside of Lahore High Court and killed Farzana Parveen, who was three months pregnant, reports The Associated Press. She was married to Mohammad Iqbal, whom she said she loved.
Her family wanted the 25-year-old to marry her cousin, but she married Iqbal instead and they were at the courthouse protesting an abduction charge Parveen's father, Mohammad Azeem, filed against her husband.
Police only managed to arrest Azeem, who admitted to killing her and saying that it was an "honor killing," which is unfortunately not uncommon form of punishment meted out by family members for perceived transgressions. Public stonings, on the other hand, are unusual.
Police investigator Muhajid, quoted Azeem as saying, "I killed my daughter as she had insulted all of our family by marrying a man without our consent, and I have no regret over it."
According to Pakistan Today, about 1,000 women are murdered every year in Pakistan as so-called honor killings, the Aurat Foundation says.
The actual numbers could be higher as the Pakistani rights group only uses newspaper-reported numbers. Many killers often get off with a light sentence or with no conviction at all. Part of the problem are inept police investigations and a law that allows the victim's family to forgive the killer.
Unsurprisingly, that's a "huge flaw," Wasim Wagha said, as most honor killings are carried out by a family member and the rest then forgive that person.