An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore on Thursday convicted a man for his involvement in an honour killing case of a couple who had eloped.

The man, Mehboob, after being declared guilty was handed two terms of life imprisonment and fined Rs0.5 million by admin Judge Sajjad Ahmad.

The prosecution said that Mehboob — who is the third convict in the case — was involved in the killing of Mohsin and Lubna, the couple who had eloped. The couple was murdered four years ago in 2014 on their way to the court.

A case was registered against Mehboob, Lubna's maternal uncle, and two other men in Muridke, Punjab by Mohsin's father .

The other two men nominated in the case, who were Lubna's cousins, were earlier handed death sentences by a court.

Scores of women in Pakistan are still being murdered by relatives for bringing shame on their family, more than a year since new laws came into force aimed at stemming the flow of 'honour killings'.

The legislation mandates life imprisonment for honour killings, but whether a murder can be defined as a crime of honour is left to the judge's discretion.

That means the culprits can simply claim another motive and still be pardoned, according to Dr Farzana Bari, a widely respected activist and head of the Gender Studies Department at Islamabad's Quaid-i-Azam University.

Opinion

Editorial

Strange claim
Updated 21 Dec, 2024

Strange claim

In all likelihood, Pakistan and US will continue to be ‘frenemies'.
Media strangulation
Updated 21 Dec, 2024

Media strangulation

Administration must decide whether it wishes to be remembered as an enabler or an executioner of press freedom.
Israeli rampage
21 Dec, 2024

Israeli rampage

ALONG with the genocide in Gaza, Israel has embarked on a regional rampage, attacking Arab and Muslim states with...
Tax amendments
Updated 20 Dec, 2024

Tax amendments

Bureaucracy gimmicks have not produced results, will not do so in the future.
Cricket breakthrough
20 Dec, 2024

Cricket breakthrough

IT had been made clear to Pakistan that a Champions Trophy without India was not even a distant possibility, even if...
Troubled waters
20 Dec, 2024

Troubled waters

LURCHING from one crisis to the next, the Pakistani state has been consistent in failing its vulnerable citizens....