Pakistani woman gets death sentence for daughter's murder

(AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary, File)

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) - A prosecutor says a court has sentenced a woman to death for burning her daughter alive for marrying a man of her choice in eastern Pakistan.

Abdur Rauf said judge Chaudhry Ilyas in eastern Lahore on Monday convicted Parveen Bibi of burning to death Zeenat Rafiq a week after her marriage to Hassan Khan last June.

Nearly 1,000 women are murdered each year in Pakistan by relatives in the name of family honor.

Rauf said the court sentenced Anees Rafique to life in prison for helping his mother kill his 18-year-old sister.

Defense lawyer Shahid Iqbal said the son had no role in the killing and was wrongly convicted.

Authorities say Bibi brought Rafiq back home with a promise of celebrating the wedding but burned her alive instead.