Lahore, Oct 23: In a case of honour killing, a Pakistani court has sentenced a 21-year-old man to death for murdering his mother and three sisters, a court official said on Thursday.
The gruesome incident took place in Kabirwala, around 290 km from Lahore, in June last year.
“Additional District and Sessions Judge Sajjad Hussain Baloch (Kabirwala) awarded a death sentence to Muhammad Abbas, 21, on four counts in light of evidence against him”, said the court official.
“The suspect had also confessed to having killed his mother and three sisters for disgracing the family honour,” he added.
According to the prosecution, Abbas shot and killed his three sisters while they were working on the farmland. He later returned home and killed his mother.
Investigators said Abbas had doubts about the character of his mother and sisters.
The killings once again highlight the continuing menace of honour crimes in Pakistan, where women are often targeted by family members.
According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, between 2004 and 2016, as many as 15,222 incidents of honour killings – 1,170 every year – were recorded.
“Nationwide, the numbers are likely much higher. Research shows that honour killings are primarily perpetrated by family members and that, as a result, people do not come forward to report incidents. Such disputes are instead settled outside of the court system. Further, in some segments of society, there is a level of support for the perpetrators: the criminality of these murders is not recognised within the social and cultural contexts in which they occur,” it says. (PTI)
