South Asia News

Pakistani woman stoned to death in "honour killing"

Jun 22, 2007, 6:51 GMT

Islamabad - Relatives of a woman, who was killed early this month in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), have confessed to stoning her to death on suspicion of adulterous relations, media reported on Friday. Locals of Shahbaz Garhi neighbourhood in the city of Mardan, some 40 kilometres north-east of the NWFP capital Peshawar, had informed police that screams were heard on the night of June 9 when the woman died mysteriously and was buried quietly by her family. The father and husband of the woman admitted that they had killed her for her suspected extra-marital affair, when a local court summoned them to decide on the police request for exhuming the body to determine the cause of death, the Dawn newspaper said. Police arrested the two men after the confession, while the woman's brother who also took part in the stoning is at large. Social circles and representatives of non-governmental organizations in Mardan have condemned the killing. 'Human rights organizations should take notice of the killing in the name of honour,' Poverty Eradication and Community Empowerment Chairman Naveed Khan told the newspaper. © 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur