Pakistani family murder newlyweds over free-will marriage in 'honour' killing

Relatives kill Abdul Hadi, 24, and Hasina Bibi, 19, after marrying without family's permission

Relatives of a newlywed couple stand behind bars at a police station in Karachi, Pakistan (Shakil Adil/AP)

Pakistani police say they have arrested ten people for killing a newly-wed couple who entered into a free-will marriage in the southern port city of Karachi.

Officer Qasim Hameed said on Monday that Abdul Hadi, 24, and Hasina Bibi, 19, were killed by relatives last week for marrying without permission from their elders earlier this month.

Qasim said Hadi’s father and nine other relatives were arrested after the couple’s bodies were found in a local graveyard on Sunday. He said Bibi’s father has absconded.

He added that the men confessed to murdering the couple with knives upon the orders of a “Jirga,” or tribal council, for dishonouring their Pashtun culture.

Nearly 1,000 Pakistani women are killed by close relatives each year in so-called honour killings.

AP