Further arrests over woman stoned to death

Four more people have been arrested in connection with the killing of a woman in Pakistan who was beaten and stoned to death by her family for marrying without their permission.

Police arrested the four men from their village in the Nankana district.

The woman’s father has already been arrested.

The 25-year-old was on her way to court on Tuesday when she was attacked by a group of her relatives who objected to her marriage. During the assault she was hit on the head with bricks from a nearby construction site and died.

The case has focused attention on violence against women in Pakistan.

The case took a shocking twist when it emerged the husband of the woman stoned to death killed his first wife four years ago,.

A mob of family members, beat 25-year-old Farzana Parveen to death with bricks stolen from a construction site in the eastern city of Lahore as onlookers stood by, authorities said.

Initially, many in Pakistan offered their condolences to Parveen’s husband, Mohammed Iqbal, after the killing. But Zulfiqar Hameed, deputy inspector general for Punjab police, said that authorities arrested Iqbal for the October 2009 killing of his first wife, Ayesha Bibi. Mr Hameed said the case was withdrawn after a family member forgave him.

Under Pakistani law, those charged with a killing can see their criminal case dropped if family members of the deceased forgive them or accept so-called “blood money” offerings.

Reached at his village near the town of Jaranwala, Iqbal said he could not speak because he was praying at his second wife’s grave.

One of Iqbal’s five children, Aurang Zeb, said his father killed his wife in 2009 over a dispute. He said his father was arrested but the children later forgave him and the case was withdrawn.

“We don’t want to discuss whatever had happened in the past, but I confirm that we had forgiven our father Iqbal,” Mr Zeb said, adding that his father was in a state of shock after his second wife’s death.