A woman was shot dead allegedly by her brother in a suspected honour killing on Wednesday in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Shangla district, police said.

Khalid shot dead his sister Sadiqeen, 26, after allegedly finding her in an "objectionable position" in a room with a 70-year-old man named Rafiqullah, Station House Officer (SHO) Sher Hassan said.

After killing his sister, a mother of two, Khalid shot dead Rafiqullah as well.

The suspect escaped after committing the crime.

A First Information Report (FIR) has been lodged against Khalid and his cousin, Umar Bacha, the police official said.

Hundreds of women are murdered every year in Pakistan, often by their own relatives, for going against their families' wishes in matters of love and marriage.

The perpetrators of so-called honour killings — in which the victim, normally a woman, is killed by a relative — often walk free because they can seek forgiveness for the crime from another family member.

The Aurat Foundation’s annual report of 2016 showed 7,852 cases of violence against women.

According to Saima Munir, who works for Aurat Foundation, there has been a 70 per cent increase in honour killings in the past year.