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Police say a couple murdered their own 15-year-old daughter for "eyeing" a boy.

In an interview, the parents said they felt that her behavior had somehow shamed the family name and they decided to punish the poor girl by throwing acid in her face. She later died from the injuries.

It's the latest in a string of honor killings that have made the news this year. But what is especially disturbing about this particular case is that the girl did something every single teenager should be able to do. She checked out a boy. She did not have sex with anyone. No one touched her nor did she touch anyone. She simply looked at him. That should be age-appropriate behavior for a teen no matter what culture you are from.

Her parents, Mohammad and Zaheen Zafar, told their side of the story from jail in Pakistan. Her father said she had turned to look at a young man who was driving by on a motorcycle. When he accused her, the teen insisted that she did not do it on purpose and promised not to do it again. Her pleas, however, fell on deaf ears. "By then I had already thrown the acid," her mother reportedly said. "It was her destiny to die this way."

This is beyond barbaric. She did something completely natural and normal. And even if it wasn't, murder of a child should not be an acceptable punishment anywhere in the world.

What kind of punishment do you think these parents should recieve?

 

Image via Pink Sherbert Photography/Flickr