Pakistani Woman Stoned To Death

Police and a defense lawyer say a woman has been stoned to death by her family in front of a Pakistan high court for marrying the man she loved.

Police said nearly 20 members of the woman's family, including her father, attacked her and her husband with bricks on May 27 in front of the high court in the eastern city of Lahore.

The woman, 25, had been engaged to her cousin but married another man in opposition to her family.

Her lawyer, Mustafa Kharal, says her father had filed an abduction case against her husband, which the couple was contesting.

All of the suspects in the stoning, except the victim's father, escaped.

Many Pakistani families think a woman marrying her own choice of man brings dishonor on the family.

Rights groups estimate some 1,000 Pakistani women are killed every year by their families in honor killings.
Based on reporting by Reuters and AFP