[DiamondSmiles]

Farooq Naeem, AFP

A three months pregnant Pakistani woman was beaten to death with bricks by members of her own family Tuesday for marrying the man of her choice, police said.

Farzana Iqbal, 25, was attacked outside the Lahore High Court by more than two dozen people including her brother and father, senior investigator, Rana Akhtar told AFP.

She had been due in court to defend her new husband against allegations, made by her family, that he had kidnapped her and forced her to marry him.

Some 28 to 30 people attacked her, Akhtar told AFP.

"The brother first opened fire with a gun but missed. She tried to run away but fell down," the investigator said.

"The relatives caught her and then beat her to death with bricks."

Mohammad Mushtaq, another police official, confirmed the incident in the eastern city. Mushtaq said police had opened an initial investigation following a complaint by Farzana's husband Iqbal, who also has another wife.

Farzana's lawyer Rao Mohammad Kharal told AFP, "Farzana was here to tell the court that she married of her own choice."

Many Pakistani women have no say in who they marry and disobeying the wishes of relatives is believed to bring shame on the whole family.

Last year 869 women died in so called, "honour killings," according to the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

"Such crimes persisted because of the impunity enjoyed by the killers," the commission said in a report, noting that Pakistan's blood money laws allow kin to forgive perpetrators and that most killers were members of the victim's family.

© 2014 AFP

Pakistani human rights activists carry a coffin symbolising honour killing as they take part in a protest on International Womens Day in Islamabad on March 8, 2014. Getty Images

Photo of body and husband in ambulance with body courtesy of Zambini.

[bob351]

Well thats pleasant.

[MrCorpse]

Gunshots, bricks, angry ****'s, pregnant victim struggling to escape... that scene had everything going for it and I really hope there's a video somewhere!

[Johnny Wadd]

Very tolerant people

[Kelseecat65]

Bunch of fucking cavemen

[candice81]

I dont care what anyone says, using religion to do horrible things to people is a crock of shit! I had a friend who was Sikh and she was dating a "white" man, when her family found out she went missing. We never found her and still don't know where she is.

[Tiffany32]

In most of these cases either the family does not pursue it any further or the police don’t properly investigate. As a result, the courts either award light sentences to the attackers, or they are acquitted altogether. Last year over 800 women in Pakistan were brutally killed by family members in these so called "honour killings"

[Zambini]

Husband in ambulance with body

[DiamondSmiles]

Originally Posted by candice81 ↗

I dont care what anyone says, using religion to do horrible things to people is a crock of shit! I had a friend who was Sikh and she was dating a "white" man, when her family found out she went missing. We never found her and still don't know where she is.

I am sorry to hear that.

People have been doing evil in the name of religion for years and it does suck!

[DiamondSmiles]

Originally Posted by Tiffany32 ↗

In most of these cases either the family does not pursue it any further or the police don’t properly investigate. As a result, the courts either award light sentences to the attackers, or they are acquitted altogether. Last year over 800 women in Pakistan were brutally killed by family members in these so called "honour killings"

Greetings, Tiffany32! How are you?

Pretty bad when you cannot even trust your own family.