Family accused of stoning pregnant woman to death
A Pakistan court has indicted five relatives accused of stoning a pregnant woman to death for marrying against the family’s wishes.
Investigator Mian Zulfiqar said the woman’s father, two brothers, a cousin and ex-husband have pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and torture.
Farzana Parveen, 25, was killed in May before a crowd of onlookers near a courthouse in the eastern city of Lahore.
The case has brought international attention to violence against women in Muslim-majority Pakistan, where hundreds of women are killed by relatives each year in so-called “honour killings” after allegedly bringing shame to their families through sexual transgressions.
The investigator says the trial will begin tomorrow when the court has called on prosecution witnesses to appear.
