Officials on Monday said a Pakistan court has approved the remand of three suspects including the parents of a 10-year-old girl, who was stoned to death in an incident of honour killing.
Local police chief Farrukh Raza said the court in the Dadu district of the southern province of Sindh ordered the police to interrogate the parents and an Islamic cleric for the murder.
Police said parents and close relatives allegedly stoned a girl to death on November 22 after they suspected she was trying to elope with her boyfriend.
Raza said the incident occurred in a remote rural area and did not come to light until recently when it was revealed in social media posts.
“We are looking for more suspects, we believe the murder might have been sanctioned by a village council.’’
Raza said the incident of honour killing is a common practice in rural Pakistan where the tribal justice system punishes criminals.
He said Islamic clerics usually endorse such decisions as adulterers can be condemned to death by stoning according to some interpretations of the Koran.
According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, hundreds of women suspected of having affairs or trying to choose their own partners are killed by their relatives every year.
In 2018, nearly 800 men and women in Pakistan were killed by their relatives after facing similar accusations, police records show.
Pakistan’s parliament recently approved a new law closing a legal loophole that had previously allowed parents or legal heirs of victims to pardon the killers in exchange for the payment of blood money.