CJ takes notice of woman’s murder outside LHC

ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani has taken notice of the murder of 25-year-old Farzana Iqbal who was beaten to death with sticks and bricks by an angry mob of relatives including her father and brothers outside the Lahore High Court (LHC).

The chief justice has summoned a report from the Inspector General Police Punjab within 48 hours.

Farzana was beaten to death by her family members on Tuesday for marrying a 45-year-old man named Muhammaed Iqbal. The marriage had been termed unacceptable by her family, which had filed an abduction case against the husband. Farzana was about to deliver a statement in his defence when she was attacked outside the LHC.

Her father surrendered to the police after the attack claiming he had murdered Farzana in the name of honour. Her brothers remain at large while police on Friday arrested four more suspects accused of being involved in the murder.

READ: Four Arrested in honour killing case



The incident has become the subject of global headlines and in a startling revelation, Farzana’s husband Muhammad Iqbal said he had murdered his first wife because he was in love with Farzana.

READ: Husband of honour killing victim killed his first wife

Last year alone, Pakistan's Human Rights Commission reported 869 "honour killings" — a misnomer of the highest order, describing incidents in which family members take it upon themselves to punish daughters who refuse arranged marriages or choose to follow their heart rather than family diktat. The real number, though, is probably much higher.

"I do not even wish to use the phrase 'honour killing,'" said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay in Geneva. "There is not the faintest vestige of honor in killing a woman in this way." (Another news report now suggests that a sister of Farzana was poisoned to death four years ago in a similar episode.)

On Thursday, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif issued an angry statement on her "brutal killing," deeming it "totally unacceptable." He ordered the office of the Chief Minister of Punjab Shahbaz Sharif to deliver a report on the case.