PESHAWAR, Jan 23: More women were murdered in the NWFP during 2006 than the preceding year, hospital record show.

“We performed 836 autopsies in 2006 and 415 of the victims were women.

The total number of murder cases in 2005 was 771 and 200 of the victims were women,” said an official of the department

of forensic sciences and toxicology of the Khyber Medical College.

He said the number of women murdered in the NWFP during the year was the highest among the provinces.

He said the number of injured women taken to the hospitals had also increased from 250 during the previous year to 300 in 2006.

He said the department had also received 200 women last year for examination in cases of sexual assault.

Most of the women victims of crimes were young, he pointed out.

He said many victims had also been taken to local hospitals which did not have the required facilities.

The official said most of the women victims had been shot dead or wounded by their relatives, while in other cases they had been beaten severely.

He said most of the women victims belonged to poor families and they had been attacked because of issues related to honour.