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Young Man Arrested In Karachi For Brutal 'Honor' Killing


Police in Pakistan have arrested a man in Karachi on charges of slitting his sister’s throat and letting her bleed to death -- the latest so-called "honor killing" in the country.

Police say 20-year-old Hayat Khan used a kitchen knife to murder his 16-year-old sister Sumaira after he found her talking to a man on her mobile phone at their home in Karachi’s low-income Orangi Town neighborhood on April 27.

Neighbors reported seeing him throw her out of the house where she continued to bleed and writhe in pain until she died.

Investigators said she also suffered multiple stab wounds to the neck, chest, and back.

Pakistan amended its criminal code in 2005 to prevent men who kill female relatives from escaping punishment by pardoning themselves as an "heir" of the victim.

But judges can rule whether prison should be imposed when other relatives of the victim forgive the killer.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif vowed to eradicate the "evil" of honor killings in February but no fresh legislation has been proposed since then.

Based on reporting by AFP and Dawn

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