Man ‘honour kills’ two sisters
AP/dailytimes ^ | February 24, 2006
MULTAN: A man shot and killed his two sisters on Thursday in eastern Pakistan because he suspected they were having love affairs – an affront to family’s name, police said.
The suspect, Muhammad Ashraf, 35, was arrested shortly after he opened fire on the women in Vehari, about 100 kilometres southeast of Multan, said Abdul Sattar, a police official.
Sattar identified the women only by their first names: Kaneez, 27, and Naveed, 25. Naveed had filed a court case seeking a divorce, and her sister was going to the court in connection with the case when the attack occurred, the police official said. “We have arrested this man who says that he killed his sisters to protect family’s honor,” Ashraf said.
Killing of women for honour is common in Pakistan, where men consider it an affront to the family when their female relatives have affairs or even choose a husband without the family’s approval.
The latest killings came weeks after Pakistan’s top human rights group in its annual report said that crimes against women had not dropped in this Islamic nation, although the government had taken some steps to address the problem. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said that at least 1,242 cases of violence against women were reported in the first eight months of 2005. ap
dailytimes.com.pk\02\24\story_24-2-2006_pg7_40 |
