ISLAMABAD The Senate strongly condemned on Monday the burying alive of five women in Balochistan in the name of family honour and demanded severe punishment for the people who committed the crime.

The same issue had outraged lawmakers on Saturday when Senator Israrullah Zehri had defended the practice and told a horrified house that "only those who indulge in immoral acts should be afraid." "These are centuries-old traditions and I will continue to defend them," he argued.

The statement sparked an uproad among human rights organisations and senate members.

On Monday, senators expressed serious concern over what they called a deliberate hush-up of the killing and then its attribution to Baloch tribal traditions. Saying that there was no such tradition in Baloch society they urged the government to ensure that such crimes were not committed in future.

“We have rejected a preliminary report and sought a detailed report. The killing for honour is not confined to only Balochistan; such incidents also take place in other provinces.”

The house unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the incident. It was moved by Yasmeen Shah and Wasim Sajjad of the PML-Q. Senators in their speeches criticised Senator Israrullah Zehri`s statement that the incident was part of Baloch tribal traditions.

The resolution said “This house strongly condemns the gruesome incident of killing/burying alive of five Baloch women and demands meting out stern punishment to those involved in the crime.”

However, the acting chairman of Senate Jan Mohammad Jamali, was unmoved by the outrage of the house and continued to argue that the media had blown the situation "out of proportion".

"It is not a matter of mere sloganeering. It pertained to five women. The media gave the matter such a colour as if heavens have fallen," Jamali said.

Leader of the House Raza Rabbani urged Mr Jamali to send the matter to the house committee on human rights which might co-opt the parties having no representation in it to visit the area and investigate the incident and report back to the house.

Earlier, Haji Mohammad Adeel of the ANP said “We hold Baloch Sardars in high esteem but we cannot allow anyone to bury women alive.”

Prof Khurshid Ahmed of Jamaat-i-Islami said no jirga or tradition allowed killing women in such a manner. He demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident.

Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haideri of the JUI-F attributed the incident to the so-called women protection bill and proposed necessary amendments to the law.

Abdul Rahim Mandokhel of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party said “All decisions should be made in accordance with the law of land.”

Ishaq Dar of the PML-N deplored the remarks of some lawmakers mingling the violation of law with tribal traditions.