Press release

Foreign Secretary appalled by murder of Pakistani woman stoned to death

Foreign Secretary appalled by the death of Farzana Parveen who was stoned to death in Pakistan.

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Commenting on the death of a pregnant Pakistani woman who was murdered by her own family outside a court building in Lahore, the Foreign Secretary William Hague said:

I am shocked and appalled by the death of Farzana Parveen: both for the appalling manner of her death, and the unspeakable cruelty and injustice of murdering a woman for exercising her basic right to choose who to love and marry.

There is absolutely no honour in honour killings and I urge the Government of Pakistan to do all in its power to eradicate this barbaric practice .

I call on the Pakistani authorities to investigate this atrocious murder fully and bring those responsible to justice. And I hope this will spark a wider debate about how to confront and end the intolerable culture of violence against women in many parts of the world.

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Published 29 May 2014