A 23-year-old woman was paraded in her village streets with blackened face and shaved off head by her family members for allegedly eloping with a man, the latest in a series of ‘honour’ related crimes in Pakistan’s Punjab province. Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous state, has seen a spur in honour-related crimes, including honour killing, in recent times. According to eyewitnesses, the family members including parents of the woman, on Saturday paraded her in the streets outside her house after blackening her face and shaving off her head in a village of Uch Sharif, Bahawalpur, some 400 km from Lahore. At least 1,100 women were killed in the name of honour in Pakistan last year by their relatives on the pretext of defending what is seen as family honour. Reports said the woman who had allegedly eloped with a man of another village returned home a week later.

Source: The Hindu June 19, 2016 11:15 UTC