A different twist in this one: the prospective in-laws and their son were murdered. “British couple gunned down in Pakistan in suspected honour killing after calling off marriage,” from the Daily Mail, August 9 (thanks to all who sent this in):
A British couple who flew to Pakistan to settle a row over their daughter’s arranged marriage have been shot dead in a suspected ‘honour killing’.
The spurned groom is thought to have gunned down Gul Wazir and wife Bagum alongside their son who had also travelled to the remote Nowshera province, one of the areas devastated by the flooding in the country.
The son survived the attack and is in a stable condition in hospital. It was reported the gunman was a nephew of the couple, and was named locally as Rehman Wazir.
He had been due to marry his cousin until her parents decided against the arrangement. Local police said the Wazirs had travelled from their home in Alum Rock, Birmingham, to the village of Saleh Khan to explain their reasons to the groom.
The aborted marriage was discussed in a grand jirga, or assembly of the village, which ended with an order for the Wazirs to pay the equivalent of £18,800 to their nephew in compensation.
But although both parties agreed with the decision, two days later, Rehman Wazir allegedly shot his uncle and aunt at the house they were staying at. Police were last night searching for him.
A family friend said: ‘Gul and his wife went to Pakistan to try to sort it out. It is a tragedy. They were honest, decent people.’
‘The husband and wife had already promised their daughter to a man. When that arrangement ended he was not happy,’ the friend said….
Another of Mr and Mrs Wazir’s son’s, Umar, was organising a memorial for them at an Islamic centre in Bordesley Green, Birmingham yesterday….
Honour killings have become a regular feature in the region, where a strict Islamic code is enforced.
‘This is not a one-off incident,’ the taxi driver’s friend revealed. ‘Less than 18 months ago, a man from Bordesley Green was murdered in the same village for very similar reasons. His daughter did not want to marry a man who believed he was entitled to her.
‘It’s a very sad situation, it is hard to accept that this sort of killing still goes on. The parents often don’t have a say in Birmingham.
‘If the daughter has been raised here and she doesn’t want to marry a man, she won’t be forced to do it.
‘Back in Pakistan they still blame the parents if this happens. They don’t understand that the culture is different.’…