Three women in one family murdered for 'honour' in Pakistan
The young women were shot at the chest by their relatives for allegedly having ‘illicit relations’ with men.
Lahore
: Three young women in one family were shot dead by male relatives who suspected them of having -"illicit relations-" with other men, police in eastern Pakistan said Wednesday.
The women, aged 22, 28 and 29, all lived in the same house in the city of Faisalabad.
-"The men suspected that the three women had illicit relations with other men and shot them in the chest and face and fled after the murders,-" police investigator Mohammad Ayub told AFP.
Police have launched a manhunt, he said, added that it appeared to a case of -"honour killings-".
Officials at the local police station confirmed the account.
Last week a teenage girl in the country's northwest was strangled and her body set ablaze after a village council ruled she must die for helping a friend to elope, sparking anger from rights activists.
Hundreds of women are murdered by their relatives in Pakistan each year on the pretext of defending family -"honour-".
Pakistan amended its criminal code in 2005 to prevent men who kill female relatives escaping punishment by pardoning themselves as an -"heir-" of the victim.
But it is left to a judge's discretion to decide whether to impose a prison sentence when other relatives of the victim forgive the killer -- a loophole which critics say is still exploited.
-"A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness-" -- a film telling the story of a rare survivor of an attempted honour killing -- won the Academy Award for best documentary short in February.
Publicity surrounding the film prompted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to vow to eradicate the -"evil-" of honour killings, but no fresh legislation has been tabled since then.