[JURIST] Pakistani lawmakers voted unanimously Thursday to strengthen the penalties for those convicted of murder in connection to honor killings. The new law provides for mandatory life imprisonment [Al Jazeera report], even if the family of the victim forgave the convicted killer. During the same parliamentary session, lawmakers approved a law providing a mandatory 25-year sentence for rape [Reuters report]. Approximately 500 women are killed each year in Pakistan in so-called honor killings.

In 2014 then-UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay condemned [JURIST-report] the killing of a 25-year-old pregnant woman who was stoned to death in a so-called “honor killing.” Farzana Iqbal was killed by her family outside of a Pakistani court in the city of Lahore because she had chosen to marry the man whom she loved. Such killings are common in Pakistan, as Pakistanis believe that it is dishonorable for a woman to fall in love and choose her own husband. In 2011 the Supreme Court of India expressed its support [JURIST report] for death penalties for “honor killing” convictions in a ruling upholding the life sentence for a man convicted of an honor killing.