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Dishonorable Murder on Trial in Denmark

Nine Pakistanis living in Denmark went on trial on Monday accused of participating in the so-called honor killing of an 18-year-old woman who married without the consent of her parents. Ghazala Khan was shot dead by her brother with two bullets in the heart in September 2005 just outside the train station of Slagelse, west of Copenhagen.

Ghazala Khan`s husband suffered serious injuries in the attack. The prosecution has classified the murder as an honor killing, which would be the ninth in Denmark in the past decade. However, Khan`s brother insists it was accidental.

Six other members of the victim?s family, including her father and three family friends, were charged with murder and attempted murder. Strict security measures have been taken for the trial, which is to conclude next month. So-called, "honor killings" are those murders which, somehow, accept that murder of your own flesh and blood will restore your family`s honor.