World News
16 Year-Old Pakistani Girl Burned to Death For Helping School Friend Elope
 .
.
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Pakistani police say they have arrested 13 members of a local tribal council who strangled a local girl and set her body on fire for helping one of her friends elope.
Deputy Inspector General of Police Saeed Khan Wazir said the victim’s mother and 15 members of a village jirga — a group that resolves local disputes based on its interpretation of Islam — were arrested on Wednesday over the crime.
Members of the jirga then sedated and strangled Ambreen with her own shawl and placed her unconscious body in the van the couple had eloped in, according to Wazir.
“The jirga members … decided to punish the girl in a novel way so no one in future can dare to marry without consent of their parents and give a bad name to the village,” Wazir said. “They tied her hands with the seats and then poured [gasoline] on her and the vehicle and set it on fire.”
In Pakistan, where nearly 1,000 women are killed every year in the name of honor, women defying their family in the name of love is considered a source of shame.