Mother Sentenced to Death in Daughter's Honor Killing

A Pakistani mother who burned her daughter to death because she disapproved of the teen's marriage now faces death herself. A judge in eastern Lahore convicted Parveen Bibi of killing Zeenat Rafiq a week after the 18-year-old's unapproved marriage to her boyfriend, reports Reuters. Authorities say Bibi lured the girl home after the marriage on the pretext of throwing her a celebration, reports the AP. Instead, she beat her and doused her with kerosene, then set her ablaze. The girl's brother helped in the attack and has been sentenced to life in prison.

A local police official quotes the mother as saying, "I don't have any regrets." As her daughter burned to death, she was seen running out of her house screaming, "I have killed my daughter for misbehaving and giving our family a bad name," per AFP. CBS News reports an uptick in the number of women and girls killed by family members in the name of honor as modernity and tradition go head-to-head. Nearly 900 such deaths were reported in 2013, then more than 1,000 in 2014, and nearly 1,200 in 2015, according to the Human Rights Commission in Pakistan, though the numbers are thought to be higher due to underreporting. (A popular Pakistani singer stopped his show mid-song to rescue a girl who was being harassed.)