Pakistani police are investigating the murder of two Pakistani-Spanish sisters, whom they consider to be “honor” murders, a patriarchal practice used in the country to launder family honor. They are Aneesa Abbas, 24, and Arooj Abbas, 21.
The two women, who were trying to separate from their husbands and lived in Spain, were convinced to travel to the city of Gujrat, where they were strangled and killed last night, police spokesman Nauman Hassan told AFP.
“The family invented a story to convince them to come to Pakistan for a few days,” he explained, later adding: “Preliminary indications show that it is an honor killing case (…), but the investigation continues.” .
The two sisters suffered “pressure” from their spouses – who were also their cousins - to help them emigrate to Spain, according to the police.
After what happened, the authorities are looking for seven members of the sisters’ family for murder.
According to the Pakistan Human Rights Commission, more than 450 crimes were committed last year under the pretext of laundering family honor. Most of the victims are women and it is suspected that many cases are not even reported.
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