Husband of Pakistani stoning victim condemns police

 
       

  
  
   
       Credits:    Arif Ali/AFP/Getty Images     Alt Text:    Bystanders look at the site where a pregnant woman was beaten to death      

  
 
      
    Victim’s husband describes Pakistani police as 'shameful' and 'inhuman' for failing to intervene      
 
        One-Minute Read  
    
    Thursday, May 29, 2014 - 1:22pm  
      The husband of a pregnant Pakistani woman stoned to death by her family has said that police did nothing to stop the fatal attack. 
 Farzana Parveen was beaten with bricks and sticks by a crowd of angry relatives in broad daylight for marrying the man she loved. 
 As the attack took place on the streets outside a court in Lahore, the police "watched Farzana being killed and did nothing", Parveen’s husband, Mohammad Iqbal, told the  BBC .  
 Iqbal said Parveen’s family have continued to threaten him, even suggesting they would snatch his wife's body before burial. 
 According to local police investigator, Mujahid Hussain, a few of Parveen’s relatives have been arrested, including her father, and others are being investigated, the  Telegraph  reports. 
 Mohammad Azeem, Parveen’s father, said he had "no regret" when he confessed to killing his daughter, the  Associated Press  says. He told authorities that it was an "honour" killing because she had married a man against family wishes. 
 Arranged marriages are considered the norm for many families in Pakistan, where hundreds of women are killed each year as "punishment" for defying family wishes or disobeying conservative Islamic customs. 
 According to police, Parveen had previously been engaged to her cousin but decided to marry Iqbal instead. 
 Parveen’s stepson revealed that a post mortem found that she had been five months pregnant when she died,  Channel 4  reports. 
 UN human rights chief, Navi Pillay, called for the Pakistani government to take "urgent and strong measures" against similar attacks.  ·   
       South and Central Asia    People        Pakistan    public execution    Murder    Farzana Parveen