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 LAHORE, Pakistan — A Pakistani court sentenced four men to death on Wednesday for the murder of Farzana Parveen, a pregnant woman who was bludgeoned to death in May for marrying the man of her choice. 
 
 The killing of Ms. Parveen, 25, generated global outrage partly because it occurred in broad daylight on a public street outside the high court in Lahore, Pakistan’s second-largest city. 
 
 Her father, a brother and two cousins were found guilty of the killing by the court, said Abdul Samad, a senior state prosecutor, after Wednesday’s hearing. Another cousin was sentenced to 10 years in prison on charges of abetting the crime. 
 
 Ms. Parveen enraged her family in January when she married Muhammad Iqbal, a widower from a neighboring village, instead of the cousin who had been chosen by her parents. 
 
 Months of tension came to a head in May when a mob led by her brother beat her to death outside the gates of the Lahore High Court. Her father was arrested hours later and told the police that she had been killed to preserve the family honor. 
 
 So-called honor killings are common in parts of rural Pakistan, but the gratuitous nature of Ms. Parveen’s murder in a city considered to be the country’s cultural capital brought it to particular attention. 
 
 Ms. Parveen had come to Lahore to testify in a lawsuit brought by her family, who claimed she had been kidnapped by Mr. Iqbal and forced to marry him. 
 
 But their tragic relationship later took a darker twist when it came to light that Mr. Iqbal had killed his first wife years earlier in order to be with Ms. Parveen. He won his freedom through an Islamic provision of Pakistani law. 
 
 Mansoor Afridi, a lawyer for the four condemned men, told journalists after Wednesday’s hearing that his clients had been awarded a “politically motivated” sentence as a result of intense media coverage. They will appeal the judgment. 
 
 State prosecutors rejected that argument, insisting that the police had proven the four men’s guilt using DNA testing and other forensic techniques. 
 
 Rights groups estimate that at least 3,000 women have died in honor killings in Pakistan since 2008. 
 
 Although such killings mostly occur in rural areas, another case also occurred in Lahore a week ago. 
 
 The police said that two brothers had confessed to killing their mother and two stepsisters with an ax because they suspected the women of having illicit relationships. ||||| Image copyright AFP Image caption Muhammad Iqbal, husband of murdered Farzana Parveen, with her body shortly after the attack earlier this year 
 
 A Pakistani court has given the death sentence to four people for bludgeoning to death a pregnant relative who had married without their consent. 
 
 Farzana Parveen, 30, was beaten with bricks and sticks in May outside Lahore's high court. Police deny charges they stood by as it happened. 
 
 Ms Parveen's father, brother, cousin and former fiancé were all found guilty of murder on Wednesday. Another brother got 10 years in jail. 
 
 The case sparked global outrage. 
 
 Ms Parveen had been at the high court to defend her husband in a case brought against him by her relatives. They accused Muhammad Iqbal of abducting her. Ms Parveen had already testified to police that she had married of her own free will. 
 
 According the police, a scuffle took place between about 20 members of Ms Parveen's family and 10-15 of Mr Iqbal's, during which she was struck with a brick three times and fatally wounded. He managed to escape. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Husband Muhammad Iqbal spoke to the BBC in May 2014 about the attack 
 
 Police say that Ms Parveen was dead by the time officers were able to intervene. 
 
 Court officials say the defendants will have the right to appeal in Lahore's high court. 
 
 The BBC's Shaimaa Khalil in Islamabad says Farzana Parveen's death by stoning in broad daylight outside a court is shocking even by the standards of Pakistan, where so-called honour killings are common. 
 
 Our correspondent says death sentences for family members in such cases are unusual, but many are saying there is a chance Farzana Parveen's relatives could walk free or have their sentences reduced on appeal. 
 
 Pakistan 'honour killings' 
 
 Image copyright Getty Images 
 
 •In 2013, 869 women murdered in so-called "honour killings" 
 
 •Campaigners say real number is likely to be much higher 
 
 •Of these, 359 were so called "Karo Kari" cases, whereby family members consider themselves authorised to kill offending relatives to restore honour 
 
 •Rights groups say conviction rate in cases of sexual and other violence against women is "critically low" 
 
 Source: Human Rights Commission of Pakistan annual report 2013 
 
 Why do families kill their daughters? 
 
 There are hundreds of so-called "honour killings" in Pakistan each year. 
 
 This case prompted particular outrage, with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif describing it as "totally unacceptable". 
 
 After she was killed, it emerged that Mr Iqbal had killed his first wife six years earlier in order to marry Ms Parveen. 
 
 Mr Iqbal's son by his first marriage, Aurangzeb, told the BBC in May that relatives had persuaded him to forgive his father, enabling his release from prison under Pakistani law. 
 
 Correspondents say arranged marriages are the norm in Pakistan, and to marry against the wishes of the family is unthinkable in many deeply conservative communities. ||||| ISLAMABAD (AP) — A pregnant Pakistani woman beaten and stoned to death by her own family for marrying against their wishes was buried before dawn Wednesday as police pressed a manhunt for those who took part in the so-called "honor killing" outside a courthouse in downtown Lahore. 
 
 Mustafa Kharal, lawyer of pregnant woman Farzana Parveen who was stoned to death, shows her marriage certificate in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, May 28, 2014. Nearly 20 members of the woman's family,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Mustafa Kharal, lawyer of pregnant woman Farzana Parveen who was stoned to death, shows the area where she was killed in Lahore, Pakistan, Wednesday, May 28, 2014. Nearly 20 members of the woman's family,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Her father was arrested shortly after the killing on Tuesday, and confessed to having killed his daughter because she had married a man of her choice, defying the family's wishes and conservative norms in the Muslim-majority country. 
 
 Farzana Parveen, 25, was buried in the presence of some 100 mourners from her husband's family at around 2 a.m. in a village graveyard in Pakistan's eastern Punjab province, her husband Mohammad Iqbal said. 
 
 He said his family had chosen to bury her at night because of the gruesome state of her remains. 
 
 Iqbal, 45, said they had gone to the high court in Lahore on Tuesday to contest a criminal complaint filed against him by his father-in-law, Mohammad Azeem, who accused him of abducting his daughter. The couple was attacked as they approached the courthouse. 
 
 Authorities say the father described the attack as an "honor killing," a term used for the murder of women accused of violating the sexual mores of conservative societies. 
 
 "We loved each other. We got married on January 7, 2014 and my wife was three months' pregnant," Iqbal told The Associated Press. 
 
 "My wife wanted to tell the court that I had not kidnapped her. We were going to the court with our lawyer Mustafa Kharal, and we were near the court when three dozen people suddenly attacked us," he said in a telephone interview from his village. 
 
 He said the attackers included his wife's father, two brothers and a woman. 
 
 "I saw a young woman from my wife's family slapping her. Some people were also beating me... I tried to save my wife's life, but I failed," he said. 
 
 Arranged marriages are the norm among many conservative Pakistanis, and hundreds of women are murdered every year in so-called honor killings carried out by husbands or relatives as a punishment for alleged adultery or other illicit sexual behavior. 
 
 However, stoning in public settings is extremely rare. 
 
 Police investigator Rana Absar said Azeem surrendered hours after the attack and was in custody, and that police were searching for the others accused of taking part in the killing. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press Writer Zaheer Babar in Lahore contributed to this report.
– A Pakistani court has sentenced a father, brother, and two cousins to death after they used stones and bricks to murder a pregnant relative who married without the family's consent. The decision came yesterday, months after Farzana Parveen's "honor killing" outside a Lahore courthouse in May drew international attention, the New York Times reports. Another relative was handed 10 years in prison. The BBC reports the death sentences are somewhat unusual, and some suspect the sentences will be reduced on appeal. A lawyer for the men says they will indeed appeal the "politically motivated" sentences. Prosecutors, however, say the men's guilt was proven using DNA evidence.