A man opened fire and murdered his mother sitting in a waiting room for women in Swabi in yet another case of ‘honour killing’ in the country.

The victim had come to attend a hearing at the Shah Mansoor Judicial Complex. She was acquitted in the case and was sitting in the waiting room when her son barged in with a gun in his hand and shot her.

He was arrested at the site. A case has been registered, and the police have launched an investigation.

The district bar condemned the attack and said that judges, lawyers and people visit the judicial complex every day. The bar members said that this has raised questions on the security at the complex.

Around a thousand Pakistani women are murdered in honour killings each year — in which the victim, normally a woman, is killed by a relative for bringing shame on the family.

Perpetrators have often walked free because of a legal loophole that allowed them to seek forgiveness for the crime from another family member.

But the government has since passed a law that mandates life imprisonment, even if the attacker escapes capital punishment through a relative’s pardon.

“Antiquated and lethal notions that ‘honour’ resides in women’s bodies and actions still prevail across Pakistan,” the country’s Human Rights Commission said in a statement.

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