Pakistan lawmaker attacks rights activist over honour killings

A Pakistani religious lawmaker who threatened to rape a female human rights activist during a heated talk show debate is being investigated by police.

The argument between politician Senator Hafiz Hamdullah and activist Marvi Sirmed broke out Friday night during a discussion about "honour killings", amid a series of recent attacks against women in the South Asian nation.

The activist tweeted that her comments had made the cleric angry, and he tried to attack her during the break but was stopped by a fellow panelist on the show.

Police said they registered the case against the lawmaker Tuesday having obtained video clips from the broadcaster after the activist filed a complaint Friday and claimed the whole incident was recorded.

The incident comes after a series of gruesome "honour killings" in the country.

On Sunday a Pakistani girl was killed by her brother for insisting on marrying a man of her choice.

Anum Ishaq masih, in her late teens and from a Christian family, was murdered while she slept in the city of Sialkot southwest of Lahore in the early hours of Sunday.

"Saqib Ishaq masih, 23, killed his sister by smashing her head with a wooden log while she was sleeping," Rana Zulfiqar, the officer in-charge of the police station in Sialkot told AFP.

"The girl, named Anum Ishaq masih, was in her late teens and wanted to marry a Christian neighbour but the family was against the marriage," he said.

The brother has since been arrested and charged with murder after the girl's father filed a case against him.

Hundreds of women are murdered by their relatives in Pakistan each year on the pretext of defending what is seen as family honour, and this latest incident follows a spate of recent attacks.

Last week sixteen year-old Zeenat Bibi was set on fire in Lahore by her mother for marrying a man of her own choice. Bibi's mother later confessed to the crime.

A Pakistani couple were also murdered in Lahore last week for marrying without their family's consent.