I killed my first wife because of this love: Husband of stoned Pakistani woman

The husband of the Pakistani woman stoned to death earlier this week has reportedly admitted that he killed his first wife so that he could marry her.

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(Reuters)

 

In a macabre twist, the husband of the Pakistani woman stoned to death earlier this week has reportedly admitted that he killed his first wife so that he could marry her.

Farzana Paveen, 25, died outside Lahore's High Court after being beaten with bricks by her father and other male relatives.

According to news agency AFP, Mohammad Iqbal, 45, has revealed "I was in love with Farzana and killed my first wife because of this love," adding that he had strangled her.

Channel 4 News is reporting that Mohammad's son has confirmed the killing, while police investigating the death of Farzana have also corrorborated it.

"Iqbal was a notorious character and he had murdered his first wife six years ago," officer Zulfiqar Hameed told AFP.  "He was arrested and later released after a compromise with his family."

And in a further twist, Mohammad Iqbal also claims that Farzana's family killed her sister five years ago, in another so-called honour killing.

Pakistan's prime minister Nawaz Sharif has demanded "immediate action" over Farzana's murder.

The US State Department has condemned the "heinous" killing Farzana, who was three months pregnant, and has called for her murderers to be brought to trial.

But under Pakistani law, "honour killers" can escape punishment if the families of those murdered forgive them.  In Mohammad Iqbal's case, his son forgave him for killing his mother - an indication of how ingrained honour killings are into the psyche of Pakistani men.

Police investigating the killing of Parveen say they'll file a report to the government detailing Iqbal's past.

Hundreds of women are murdered by relatives in Pakistan each year supposedly to defend family "honour", but the fact that police officers guarding the court apparently did nothing to intervene to save Farzana Parveen has added to outrage over the killing.


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2 min read

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Source: World News Australia


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