A Pakistani man shot dead his own sisters the day before their weddings because they chose their own husbands

Nazir Hussaid, 35, from the central Punjab province, shot Kosar and Gulzar Bibi, 22 and 28, in the horrific double honor killing, and is now on the run. The two women were preparing to marry men they had chosen themselves, senior police officer Mehar Riaz said. Hussaid objected to the love matches and had wanted the women to marry someone within the extended family. Hundreds of women are murdered by relatives in the Muslim nation each year on the pretext of defending what is seen as family honor. Pakistan's law minister recently announced that bills aimed at tackling honor killings and boosting rape convictions would soon be voted on by parliament, after mounting pressure to tackle a pattern of crime that claims around 1,000 lives a year. The perpetrators of so-called honor killings - in which the victim, normally a woman, is killed by a relative - often walk free because they can seek forgiveness for the crime from another family member.