ISLAMABAD, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani parliament on Thursday passed a law, seeking to curb murders in the name of honour, parliamentarians said.
The legislation passed by the Joint session - the National Assembly and the Senate -- makes 25 years jail mandatory in case of honour killings even if the murderer has been pardoned by other close family members.
The bill was passed amid claims by the rights groups that some time women are killed on the name of honour. There was a growing demand in the country to make legislation against the crime.
The bill, initially moved by former Senator Sughra Imam of the Pakistan Peoples party, was passed unanimously by the Senate sometime back and subsequently moved in the Joint Sitting of the Parliament by another PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar on the expiry of Imam's term in the Senate.
Under the existing laws a close relative murdered a woman in the name of honour and was promptly pardoned by another close family member. Thus the murderer would walk away literally without any punishment.
"It cannot be the spirit of religion to condone pre-meditated murder with ulterior murders," the mover Farhatullah Babar said.
Read the full story at Xinhua