UN calls on Pak government to take urgent measures against Farzana's 'honour killers'

The United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has urged the Pakistani government to take urgent and strong measures to put an end to the continuous stream of 'honour killings' in light of the cold blooded murder of Farzana Iqbal.

Iqbal, a 25 year old pregnant woman, was reportedly stoned to death by her family in front of the Lahore High Court on Tuesday for marrying a man of her own choice.

According to The Express Tribune, while deploring the way Iqbal was murdered by her own family, Pillay said that she does not even wish to use the phrase 'honor killing' because there is not the faintest vestige of honour in killing a woman this way.

Pillay said that it was the Pakistan government's neglect that led to Iqbal's death, adding that the government must take urgent and strong measures to put an end to the continuous stream of so-called 'honour killings' and other forms of violence against women.

Pillay, while emphasizing that the government must take measures to protect women like Iqbal, said that it was the neglect of the government in saving a murdered women while she was on her way to court.

Pillay also said that the fact shows a serious failure by the State to provide security for someone who, given how common such killings are in Pakistan, was obviously at risk.

While criticizing the DIyat and Qisas laws of Pakistan, Pillay said that the people who carry out 'honour crimes' are rarely prosecuted, and even when they are, they often receive absurdly light sentences, considering they have committed pre-meditated murder.

Iqbal was stoned to death by her father, brother and a dozen other men while she was waiting outside the LHC as she was going to testify that she had intentionally married her husband and that her family had wrongly accused her husband of kidnapping her, the report added.

Around 869 women have been 'honour killed' in the country according to Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, but the accurate figure could be much higher as many deaths are not reported at all, the report added.