A man allegedly killed his male cousin and critically injured his sister for "honour" in Karachi's Gulshan-i-Iqbal neighbourhood on Monday, according to Mobina Town police.

The suspect attacked Gulnaz Siddique, 20, and Majid Hussain, 22, with a cleaver in Quaid-i-Azam Colony Block-1, leaving them critically injured, officials said. They were taken to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital where Hussain succumbed to his injuries during treatment.

Police arrested a suspect, Mohammad Sheraz, the woman's brother, and recovered the bloody cleaver from the scene. The suspect had allegedly struck the victims on their heads and other body parts.

Station House Officer Faizul Hasan said the suspect had confessed to have carried out the attack over issues of "honour". The alleged killer showed no remorse for his actions, the officer added.

Also read: The ‘honour’ in murder

According to police, the deceased young man and the injured woman were cousins and they liked each other.

According to Human Rights Watch, nearly 1,000 women are murdered in Pakistan in the name of honour each year — killed on the grounds of amorous relationships considered ‘unacceptable’, defiance of physical or cyber-gendered spaces, brazenness in dressing and language or perceived immorality.

Last year, a police study revealed that as many as 769 people, including 510 females, fell victim to killings in the name of so-called honour in Sindh between 2014 and 2019.

The study regretted at the time that murderers were being treated with “respect, seen as the custodians and protectors of honour” as there was a general disrespect for legal institutions.