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Pakistan court orders men's ears, noses hacked off

From Nasir Habib for CNN
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A 'nose for a nose' sentence
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • NEW: Group of men strangled woman with wire, cut off her nose and ears, police say
  • Brothers planned attack because woman refused marriage proposal, official says
  • Court sentences them to life in prison, fines, and same mutilation they did to victim
  • High court must confirm sentence; doctor to determine if men can survive being cut
RELATED TOPICS
  • Pakistan
  • Crime

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- A court in Lahore, Pakistan, has ordered that two men have their noses and ears chopped off, after the two were convicted of doing the same to a young woman.

The anti-terrorism court also ordered that brothers Ammanat Ali, 29, and Sher Mohammed, 27, spend life in prison and pay 700,000 rupees ($8,300) in compensation to the victim, Punjab province chief prosecutor Chaudary Mohammed Jahangir said Tuesday.

The sentence was handed down Monday in accordance with Islamic law and the country's anti-terror laws, the prosecutor said.

The woman and her family had rejected an offer of marriage from Sher Mohammed, the officer who investigated the case said.

The two men attacked the woman, Fazeelat Bibi, 22, on September 28, in the village of Zafarkey, southwest of Lahore, Inspector Hakim Ali said. Along with their cousin Mohammed Ali and two other men, they hid, stopped Bibi on her way home from work, and strangled her with a wire, the officer said.

When they thought she was dead, they cut off her nose and ears, Ali said.

They mutilated her "to set an example," prosecutor Jahangir said.

Mohammed Ali, the cousin, was also arrested, while the two other men allegedly involved in the attack have not been, the inspector said.

The brothers were tried under anti-terror laws because the incident "created tyranny" in the district, Inspector Ali said.

The high court must confirm the sentence before it is carried out, and a doctor must determine that they can survive the punishment.

The high court has suspended similar sentences in the past.