Pregnant Pakistani woman stoned to death by family over marriage

[DonLever]

From CTV:

LAHORE, Pakistan -- A pregnant woman was stoned to death by her own family in front of a Pakistani high court on Tuesday for marrying the man she loved.

Nearly 20 members of the woman's family, including her father and brothers, attacked her and her husband with batons and bricks in broad daylight before a crowd of onlookers in front of the high court of Lahore, police investigator Rana Mujahid said.

Hundreds of women are murdered every year in Muslim-majority Pakistan in so-called "honour killings" carried out by husbands or relatives as a punishment for alleged adultery or other illicit sexual behaviour, but public stoning is extremely rare.

Mujahid said the woman's father has been arrested for murder and that police were working to apprehend all those who participated in the "heinous crime."

Another police officer, Naseem Butt, identified the slain woman as Farzana Parveen, 25, and said she had married Mohammad Iqbal against her family's wishes after being engaged to him for years.

Her father, Mohammad Azeem, had filed an abduction case against Iqbal, which the couple was contesting, her lawyer Mustafa Kharal said. He confirmed that she was three months' pregnant.

Arranged marriages are the norm among conservative Pakistanis, who view marriage for love as a transgression.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, a private group, said in a report last month that some 869 women were murdered in honour killings in 2013.

But even Pakistanis who have tracked violence against women expressed shock at the brutal and public nature of Tuesday's slaying.

"I have not heard of any such case in which a woman was stoned to death, and the most shameful and worrying thing is that this woman was killed in front of a court," said Zia Awan, a prominent lawyer and human rights activist.

He said Pakistanis who commit violence against women are often acquitted or handed light sentences because of poor police work and faulty prosecutions.

"Either the family does not pursue such cases or police don't properly investigate. As a result, the courts either award light sentences to the attackers, or they are acquitted," he said.

Parveen's relatives had waited outside the court, which is located on a main downtown thoroughfare. As the couple walked up to the main gate, the family members fired shots in the air and tried to snatch her from Iqbal, her lawyer said.

When she resisted, her father, brothers and other relatives started beating her, eventually pelting her with bricks from a nearby construction site, Iqbal said.

Iqbal, 45, said he started seeing Parveen after the death of his first wife, with whom he had five children.

"We were in love," he told The Associated Press. He alleged that the woman's family wanted to fleece money from him before marrying her off.

"I simply took her to court and registered a marriage," infuriating the family, he said.

Parveen's father surrendered after the incident and called the murder an "honour killing," Butt said.

"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," Mujahid, the police investigator, quoted the father as saying.

Mujahid said the woman's body had been handed over to her husband for burial.

[Ghostsof1915]

I guess "Thou shalt not kill" is the first thing to be ignored in every religion.

[Gross-Misconduct]

Another police officer, Naseem Butt, identified the slain woman...

I wonder if he's related to Brent Butt.

[Tearloch7]

Sometimes, I am embarrassed to be 'a human being'

[Papayas]

I guess "Thou shalt not kill" is the first thing to be ignored in every religion.

it's hard to not ignore that when their god actually did the killing as a form of punishment in their books.

They didn't kill, they just murder in the name of their god.

[bigbadcanucks]

"Honor killing"...is there a greater oxymoron than this? If there is, can someone enlighten me?

Unbelievably sad how barbaric this particular family behaved towards the slain woman. I will never understand how any decent human being(s) could act like this toward another human being regardless of race or culture.

[Heretic]

What the heck is wrong with people.

There was no "honour" in that.

[TheRussianRocket.]

Sad but meh, it happens every day and worse stuff happens too. Unfortunate but it is what it is.

[Pears]

Sorry wrong thread

[Bure to Mogilny]

The family didnt do this it was the husband and his friends. He killed his first wife fore years ago and struck again. She was in hiding from the guy

Edit please correct title

[TheRussianRocket.]

There's a difference between it happening under the folds at night in a village and in broad daylight in a major city right outside the court even in a place like Pakistan.

Have some compassion too. I can't imagine a comment like that flying every time something happens here, and during the Boston bombings I had every desire to say meh but chose not to.

Lol, quit being so over-sensitive. I understand and feel the story like you do and others do but no need to depress yourself thinking about it and being all sad. Control yourself. I do have compassion but I won't let this take away happiness away from me.

And that's completely cool you never said that. Everyone is different and you didn't but someone else may have. Like I said, unfortunate but it is what it is and things like this happen all the time.

[nuckin_futz]

Sister of Pakistani woman stoned to death says her husband killed her

Mubasher Bukhari, REUTERS

First posted:

Saturday, May 31, 2014 10:50 AM EDT | Updated: Saturday, May 31, 2014 11:02 AM EDT

Muhammed Iqbal, 45, shows a picture of his late wife Farzana Iqbal, at his residence in a village in Moza Sial, west of Lahore May 30, 2014. REUTERS/Mohsin Raza

LAHORE, Pakistan - The family of a pregnant Pakistani woman who was bludgeoned to death in broad daylight this week accused her husband of killing her, in stark contrast to his version of a story that has shocked people around the world.

Police and witnesses said Farzana Iqbal, 25, was murdered by assailants including her own father outside a court building on Tuesday because she had married a man of her own choosing, Muhammed Iqbal, instead of a cousin they had selected for her.

But on Saturday, Farzana's elder sister said it was Iqbal who had killed her.

"Muhammed Iqbal and his accomplices killed Farzana, and her father and the rest of her family were wrongly accused of murder," Khalida Bibi told reporters in the city of Lahore.

"I was present at the scene and when she came out of the lawyer's chamber and as soon as she saw us standing on the other side of the road, she rushed towards us. Iqbal and his accomplices chased her and hit her with bricks."

Iqbal says they married for love in January. On Friday, he told Reuters that he and his wife were attacked by her family outside the High Court in Lahore, Pakistan's cultural capital.

In a dark twist, Iqbal has also admitted that he had killed his first wife in a dispute over Farzana in 2009.

Khalida Bibi said she had spent 13 days with Farzana in a women's shelter last month where she said she was hiding from Iqbal.

"She told me that Iqbal had kidnapped her and forced her into marriage," she said. "She feared that Iqbal might kill her like his previous wife, Ayesha."

Police have arrested five people including Farzana's father.

The brutality of the case, and the fact that it happened in broad daylight outside one of Pakistan's top courts drew international condemnation, including from the United Nations.

Many conservative families in Pakistan consider it shameful for a woman to fall in love and choose her own husband. Refusal to accept arranged marriages frequently results in "honour killings".

In 2013, 869 such cases were reported in the media, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, and the true figure is probably higher since many cases go unreported.

http://www.torontosun.com/2014/05/31/sister-of-pakistani-woman-stoned-to-death-says-her-husband-killed-her

[Newsflash]

Lol, quit being so over-sensitive. I understand and feel the story like you do and others do but no need to depress yourself thinking about it and being all sad. Control yourself. I do have compassion but I won't let this take away happiness away from me.

And that's completely cool you never said that. Everyone is different and you didn't but someone else may have. Like I said, unfortunate but it is what it is and things like this happen all the time.

Damn man. What would Baba Nanak/Mohammad (can't remember which religion you are--no offense) say about that? I doubt he would say meh and move on. That was really crass. Are you surprised people are going to get mad?

[Gross-Misconduct]

Makes our obsession with who the Canucks are going to draft and will Kelser stay seem a little trivial. Oh well, I'm glad I live in Canada.

[TheRussianRocket.]

Damn man. What would Baba Nanak/Mohammad (can't remember which religion you are--no offense) say about that? I doubt he would say meh and move on. That was really crass. Are you surprised people are going to get mad?

Again, you have no clue as to what I am and it's funny everytime some one gives a guess

And that's comparing apples to oranges lol. 'What would Jesus do?, it's one of those things and they hold no meaning to them anyways. Crass? Not really. I feel for them, just that this doesn't come as shocking and surprising to me as it may do to some cause I know this is almost a regular thing on this planet. Sad and unfortunate but hey, what can you do?

[Raoul Duke]

Makes our obsession with who the Canucks are going to draft and will Kelser stay seem a little trivial. Oh well, I'm glad I live in Canada.

Not in my opinion. I've choosen to block out and not react to anything that happens in that garbage country.

But I think Kes stays.

[Gross-Misconduct]

Not in my opinion. I've choosen to block out and not react to anything that happens in that garbage country.

But I think Kes stays.

Exactly.

Nothing wrong with trivial.

[Tortorella's Rant]

[TheRussianRocket.]

^speaks volumes of your personaliy. Hope that made you feel better..

[Buddhas Hand]

^speaks volumes of your personaliy. Hope that made you feel better..

He should have posted up information that is revelant in todays world, christians from the developed world persecuting women for exercising their right to have control over their bodies , something like this

Pro-life campaign accused of harassing women as they visit Cardiff abortion clinic

• Apr 07, 2014 12:00
• By Laura Connor

Pro-life campaign group 40 Days for Life has been gathering outside the British Pregnancy Advisory Service on St Mary Street every day since the beginning of lent

Bronwen Davies (left) outside BPAS in Cardiff in a counter-protest against 40 Days for Life

A controversial pro-life campaign group has been accused of harassing women as they visit an abortion clinic in Cardiff.

40 Days for Life, which describes itself as a “holy huddle” , has been gathering outside the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) on St Mary Street every day since the beginning of lent.

But now a counter-protest pro-choice group – which includes a number of women who have had abortions at BPAS – said 40 Days for Life’s actions are a form of harassment.

Bronwen Davies, one of the founding members of Abortion Rights Cardiff, said she was approached by a man from the pro-life Christian group and told she believes in “murdering babies”.

“It was the first time I went along and I was told I was a murderer for having an abortion,” the 63-year-old Cardiff nurse said.

“They said, ‘you should be ashamed of yourselves’.

“What they are doing is grossly offensive. In fact, it’s beyond offensive. They are trivialising the situation of abortion and are making women who have already had to go through a difficult emotional decision feel even worse.”

The mum-of-two said she wasn’t emotionally scarred by her abortion 35 years ago and that the “woman I was then is nothing like the woman I am now”.

Fellow Abortion Rights Cardiff protester Sarah Clarke, 25, said she had to go through an abortion five years ago because she had an abusive boyfriend.

“He tried to kick me and punch my stomach,” she said.

“If I hadn’t had an abortion, I can’t say whether I would be here today.

“I would have tried to take my own life if I hadn’t gone through with it.”

Sarah said she was told she was a “twisted and sick individual” by pro-lifers for going through with an abortion, despite her life being at risk.

But the leader of Cardiff’s 40 Days for Life – which began in America – said the group are simply a “peaceful prayer vigil”.

Clare Jackson, a Cardiff GP, said: “For me life begins at conception and by standing outside BPAS we can be a last chance saloon for women going there for an abortion.

“By having an abortion, a woman is destroying human life. Women suffer from anxiety and depression afterwards.”

When the 52-year-old mum-of-four was asked whether abortion was justified in situations where the mother’s life was at risk or she had been raped, Clare said destroying the baby would be “another violation against the body”.

“Rape is the most appalling thing that could happen but if you take the view that life begins at conception then the baby becomes the most dreadful victim of the crime,” she said.

Clare, who has to refer patients who are serious about undergoing abortions onto colleagues at her GP surgery, said she also confiscated a poster being presented to women going into BPAS which urged them to “let the baby live”.

“A prayer vigil does not need lots of banners,” she said.

Despite Clare maintaining the group, which first started campaigning in Cardiff last year, is a simple prayer vigil, a BPAS spokeswoman said women visiting the clinic are “very distressed” by their presence.

“Anti-abortion protesters simply do not care that they upset women and offend the local community, which prompts others to come to the clinic to try to support women,” the spokeswoman said.

“We urge people to avoid making private decisions a matter of public protest – these are ordinary women trying to get help at a difficult time in their lives.

“They are not making a political or religious statement by choosing to have an abortion.”

We have a clinic at the end of my street , most of the time during the day there are always people their waving signs and accosting the women who are attending the clinic.

Imagine you are going through one of the hardest decisions/times in your life and you have got these jerk-offs on your case.