Farzana Parveen Iqbal was killed on 27 May 2014 outside a court in
Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...
,
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...
,
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
. Her father, two brothers and former
fiancé
An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...
were among the nearly twenty attackers. Farzana, who had eloped with a man of her own choice, and was
pregnant
Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring develops (gestation, gestates) inside a woman, woman's uterus (womb). A multiple birth, multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins.
Pregnancy usually occur ...
by him, was killed in the tradition of
honour killing
An honor killing (American English), honour killing (Commonwealth English), or shame killing is the murder of an individual, either an outsider or a member of a family, by someone seeking to protect what they see as the dignity and honor of t ...
.
Incident
Muhammad Iqbal and Farzana had been secretly engaged for many years. When she became pregnant, they decided to marry. By this time, Farzana's family had betrothed her to a man they considered worthy and suitable. When Farzana revealed her love affair (but apparently not her pregnancy) to her parents, they were shocked. However, they agreed to meet Muhammad Iqbal. At the meeting, Farzana's father, Muhammad Parveen, indicated that he would consent to the wedding on condition that Iqbal settle a large amount of money in Farzana's name as ''
Mehr'' (which is an integral part of any Muslim wedding ceremony). The money would ensure that Farzana would have a back-up in case the marriage fell apart later. Iqbal said he could not afford so much, and suggested a much smaller ''Mehr.'' Iqbal alleges that Farzana's father initially agreed to the smaller sum, but later changed his mind and insisted again on the larger sum of money, after getting to know more about Iqbal's background and circumstances. According to Iqbal, Farzana's father withdrew support for the marriage after Iqbal refused his demands for more money, beyond the originally agreed ''
Mehr''. The lovers were determined to marry, and Farzana's pregnancy meant that they had no time to waste, so they eloped and got married without informing anyone. Since Farzana suddenly disappeared from her parents' house one day, the family informed the police and, on the advise of lawyers, filed a ''
Habeas corpus
''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...
'' petition in court. The runaway couple were quickly located by the police and duly produced in court.
On 27 May 2014, Farzana Iqbal, 30, was attacked by about a dozen male family members in front of a
Pakistani High Court. The attackers were led by her father, Muhammad Parveen, and included her two brothers and other family members. They began by punching and kicking, then it escalated to using clubs and bricks, then hurling stones. She was killed for
eloping and marrying Muhammad Iqbal, 45, whom she loved and by whom she was pregnant.
Farzana Iqbal was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Twelve people were arrested in connection with Iqbal's death, including her father, Muhammad Parveen. Police investigator Mujahid quoted him as saying: "I killed my daughter as she had dishonoured all of our family by marrying without our consent, and I have no regret over it."
[ In November 2014, four members of Farzana's family were convicted of murder and sentenced to death.]
See also
* Honour killing in Pakistan
Honour killings in Pakistan are known locally as ''karo-kari'' ( ur, ). Pakistan currently have the top number of documented and estimated Honor killing, honour killings per capita of any country in the world; about 1/5 of the world's honour kil ...
:* 2012 Kohistan video case
The Kohistan video case is an honour killing case that took place in May 2012 in Palas Valley, Kohistan, Pakistan. It involved the honour killing of up to five girls, of whom a video had emerged on the internet. The video featured a boy danci ...
:* Qandeel Baloch
Fouzia Azeem ( ur, ; 1 March 1990 – 15 July 2016), known by her stage name Qandeel Baloch ( ur, ), was a Pakistani model, actress, social media celebrity and activist. She was the country's first social media celebrity. Azeem rose to promin ...
:* Samia Sarwar
Samia Sarwar (1970 – 6 April 1999) was a Pakistani woman, who was shot dead in her lawyers' office in Lahore in an "honour killing."
Samia Sarwar was a married woman with two children, belonging to an affluent family of Peshawar. She claimed to ...
:* Death of Samia Shahid
On 20 July 2016, Samia Shahid, a 28-year-old British Pakistani woman, was found dead in Punjab, Pakistan. Although involved in a dispute with her family, she had travelled to Pakistan alone as she had been told that her father was critically ill. R ...
:* Ayman Udas
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parveen, Farzana
2014 in Punjab, Pakistan
2014 murders in Pakistan
2010s crimes in Lahore
Deaths by stoning
Female murder victims
Filicides
Honor killing victims
Honour killing in Pakistan
Incidents of violence against women
May 2014 crimes in Asia
Murder in Lahore
Pakistani murder victims
Sororicides