A pregnant young woman was stoned to death by relatives in Pakistan for marrying against their wishes.

Farzana Iqbal, who was three months’ pregnant, was beaten with bricks thrown by a mob that included her brother, father and spurned husband.

The attack involved 28 to 30 people and took place outside Lahore High Court, police told AFP.

The 25-year-old was attending court to defend her new husband, who was accused by the family of kidnapping and forcing marriage upon her.

“The brother first opened fire with a gun but missed. She tried to run away but fell down,” senior investigator Rana Akhtar told AFP.

“The relatives caught her and then beat her to death with bricks.”

Mrs Iqbal’s father, Mohammad Azeem, has been charged with murder and the others are being sought, according to AP.

The husband, Mohammad Iqbal, was a widower with five children when he began seeing the victim.

“We were in love,” he told AP news agency.

Some 869 women died in so-called “honour killings” last year, according to the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

“Such crimes persisted because of the impunity enjoyed by the killers,” the commission said in a report, which noted that Pakistan’s blood-money laws allow kin to forgive perpetrators.

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