LONDON, July 14: The brother and cousin of a Pakistani victim of a so-called ‘honour killing’ in Britain were awarded life sentences on Friday for her ‘barbaric’ murder. Samaira Nazir, 25, a recruitment consultant, was stabbed to death in April last year after her family was angered by her intention to marry Salman Mohammed, an Afghan asylum seeker.

She was stabbed 18 times at the family home in west London by her brother Azhar Nazir, 30, and cousin Imran Mohammed, 17, the two men’s trial was told. Her throat was also slashed.

Mr Nazir, a greengrocer, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 20 years, while Imran is to remain behind bars indefinitely with a minimum of 10 years.

Judge Christopher Moss called the woman’s killing as “a barbaric crime.... She suffered a brutal, gruesome and horrific death”.

“Samaira Nazir was an accomplished young woman who was murdered by members of her family because she insisted on marrying someone deemed unsuitable,” he said at the Old Bailey central criminal court in London.

Samaira’s father was also arrested in connection with the murder, which was witnessed by two young nieces who were spattered with blood, but he skipped bail and fled to Pakistan where the family said he has since died.—AFP