SHAHDADKOT: A man killed his 70-year-old mother-in-law and a local prayer leader in the Mehboob Shah village near Shahdadkot, Aaj News reported Monday.

The victim’s paternal grandson said that the accused, Panhil Mastoi, attacked his grandmother with an axe. He also fatally injured his neighbour Rustam, a local prayer leader who was also in his seventies. Panhil lived in the same house as his mother-in-law. The grandson said that the prayer leader had come to the house to recite the Quran as part of a spiritual activity.

Rustam was badly injured when he was taken to the local hospital, and was shifted to Larkana for treatment but he succumbed to his injuries.

The B Section police station has taken the suspect into custody. Police say that the suspect is a drug addict and he has confessed to the crime.

The suspect, Panhil Mastoi, told the police that the prayer leader was a frequent visitor to his house which made him suspicious. Police say that Mastoi fatally attacked the two septugenarians on the suspicion that they were having an affair.

The victim’s grandson dismissed the claim, saying that both victims were in their seventies and the Panhil killed them without any reason.

According to the the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, over 470 cases of honor killings were reported in Pakistan last year. Human rights defenders estimate that around 1,000 women are killed in the name of honor every year.