Pakistan passes legislation to stop “honor killings”

PanARMENIAN.Net - Pakistan's government has closed a loophole allowing those behind so-called honour killings to go free, BBC News reports.

New legislation means killers will get a mandatory life sentence.

Previously, killers could be pardoned by a victim's family to avoid a jail term. Now forgiveness will only spare them the death penalty.

It is being seen as a step in the right direction in a country where attacks on women who go against conservative rules on love and marriage are common.

According to the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), nearly 1,100 women were killed by relatives in Pakistan last year in such killings, while many more cases go unreported.

The loophole allowed the perpetrators of "honour killings" - often a relative acting on the pretext of defending family "honour" - to avoid punishment because they can seek forgiveness for the crime from another family member.