Pak executes four brothers for killing 13 relatives

KARACHI: Four brothers were hanged to death in the Pakistani province of Punjab on Tuesday for slaughtering 13 relatives over a land dispute.

The men were executed in Multan city's central jail early morning for the crime committed eight years ago, police officials said.

"The irony is they killed all 13 of their close relatives and there was no one left among their blood relatives to pardon them under Islamic laws," police officer Afsar Khan said.

Under Islamic laws, which are followed parallel to the judicial system in the country, the heirs of a deceased person can pardon a murderer and save him from the gallows.

Mohammad Asghar, Mohammad Iqbal, Mohammad Akram and Khuda Baksh, all in their 50s, slaughtered two uncles and their wives, five cousins, the wives of two of their cousins and two children of one of the cousins in 1999 in Basti Lakha village near Multan.

Their father, who was given a life sentence for abetting the crime, died in jail.

Khan said the appeals of the brothers had been rejected in all courts as evidence against them was overwhelming. Last year, President Pervez Musharraf rejected their pleas for clemency.

"The sort of crime they committed.... there was no other punishment for them but death," Khan said.

They are still more than 7000 people on death row in Pakistan with more than 50 being executed last year. In Punjab alone, there are around 6000 prisoners on the death row.

Gory killings and crimes over land disputes or marital discords are common in Pakistan's rural areas where old traditions and customs still prevail.