(GRAPHIC PHOTOS) Pregnant Pakistani woman stoned because husband would not pay

A Pakistani woman was stoned to death by her own family, in front of that nation's high court, because the family did not approve of the man she choose to marry. 

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Disturbing and graphic images have been displayed in the media showing the graphic aftermath of an honor killing on the streets of Lahore, Pakistan. The victim, Farzana Parveen, 25, was pregnant when her family attacked her outside Lahore's high courthouse.

Witnesses say the family, which numbered about 20 people, first tried to seize her away from her husband, Mohammad Iqbal. When she resisted, her father and brothers took up bricks from a nearby construction site and began throwing them at her. She was killed in the subsequent frenzy of stoning.

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Mrs. Praveen was three months pregnant as the family murdered her.

Police say the family was angry because she married Iqbal, a man to whom she had been engaged for several years. The family did not ever approve of her choice and filed an abduction case against Iqbal. They wanted instead to arrange a marriage for their daughter.

The family allegedly lined up outside the court, waiting for the couple to emerge from the courthouse. They were armed with guns and bricks and ambushed the couple as they exited the building. Police eventually dispersed the crowd and pictures of the deceased Farzana Praveen were taken.

Honor killings such as these occur frequently, often daily in Pakistan. Estimates range between 800 to over 1,000 such killings annually as young women seek to marry for love instead of consenting to arranged marriages. Arranged marriages can occur between young women, often just girls, and men who are much older. Money or property are often exchanged and the women are treated as possessions.

The victim's husband, Mohammad Iqbal, 45, said they were in love and that she became his bride after his first wife died. Iqbal had five children by his first wife and was just expecting his first from his new wife.

However, he said that her family wanted money from him. Instead of paying her family, the couple went to the local court and registered their marriage.

Parveen's father was arrested by police but it is unlikely he will face serious punishment. Honor killing cases can take many years to come to court and the punishments can be superficial. Often, the victim's family forgives the killer since most conservative Pakistanis agree with the practice of honor killing.

If the perpetrator is forgiven by the victim's family, then they are released without further worry of punishment.

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