Newlywed Couple Decapitated by Bride's Family for "Honor"

Muslim organizations like CAIR and ISNA routinely condemn people who draw attention to Islamic honor killings. But if we don't draw attention to the practice, it will continue indefinitely. How in the name of common sense can we be "intolerant" and "bigoted" for defending Muslim women and girls?

(CNN)—A young newlywed couple in northeastern Pakistan died a horrible death at the hands of the bride's family in the latest honor killing in the nation, police in Pakistan said Saturday.

The couple, identified as Sajjad Ahmed, 26, and Muawia Bibi, 18, were married by a Pakistani court on June 18 against the wishes of the Bibi family, Punjab police official Mohammad Ahsanullah told CNN.

On Thursday, the bride's father and uncles lured the couple back to the village of Satrah in Punjab province, where Ahsanullah said the pair were tied up and then decapitated.

Despite the fact that there were no outside witnesses, family members turned themselves in to police and are now jailed in the Sialkot district of Punjab, Ahsanulluh said.

Such killings often originate from tribal traditions in Pakistan and usually happen in rural areas. Human rights activists said bystanders, including police, don't often interfere because the killings are considered to be family matters.

According to the United Nations, some 5,000 women are murdered by family members in honor killings every year. However, women's advocacy groups believe the crime is underreported and that the actual death toll from this all too common crime is actually much higher. In Pakistan, 869 women were victims of honor killings last year, according to the country's human rights commission. (Continue Reading.)