Pakistani mother-of-three hanged from tree in 'honour killing'

Father, husband and brother confess to the murder

Pakistani police officials stand around the bodies of a woman and her alleged boyfriend who were hanged to death by the woman's father, brother and husband in the village of Chak 56, around 55 kilometres northeast of the central city of Multan, 15 September, 2016 (AFP/Getty)

A mother-of-three and a man were tortured and hanged from a tree in a so-called honour killing after they were accused of having an affair.

Khalida Bibi and her alleged boyfriend, 21-year-old Mohammad Mukhtar, were murdered in a family courtyard in the village of Mian Channu, in eastern Punjab province.

Pakistani police have arrested Ms Bibi's father, husband and brother, who confessed to killing her and Mr Mukhtar for having an affair, police official Allah Ditta told the Associated Press.

Mr Ditta said the bodies of the murdered couple had been taken to hospital for an autopsy.

Hundreds of women are murdered every year in Pakistan, often by their own relatives, for going against their families' wishes in matters of love and marriage.

The latest case took place weeks after police arrested the father and ex-husband of a British woman Samia Shahid on suspicion of her murder.

A police investigation concluded Ms Shahid's father stood guard while her ex-husband raped her, before the two men strangled her to death.

Over 1,000 so-called honour killings were recorded in Pakistan in 2015, although the true number is likely to be higher.