I read in the Times today that a UK family has been killed in Pakistan over an arranged marriage.

The story tells me: “Mohammad Yousaf, 51, his wife Parviaz, 49, and their daughter, Tania, 23, from Nelson, in Lancashire, were killed in the eastern city of Gujrat when tensions over the breakdown of the marriage between their eldest son and their niece ended in tragedy.”

It goes on: “The marriage finished about a year ago but the wife’s brother – who is also Mr Yousaf’s nephew – is believed to have harboured a grudge that his sister was being divorced.”

The article quotes people I know well.

Eileen Ansar, a Labour councillor in Nelson who is married to Mr Yousaf’s cousin, told the Times: “There have been tensions since the son and girl separated but the father treated her like his own daughter. Most of the family went out to Pakistan for the wedding of the eldest son, Asad, but (Mr Yousaf) and his wife stayed on for a few days after. They had gone to a cemetery to pay their respects to those who had passed away since they had last visited the country. Four men approached them and started firing.”

She continued: “It is an absolute tragedy. You could not meet nicer people, they never did harm to anyone. It has destroyed the family.”

Mohammed Sakib, another Labour councillor in Nelson, told the Lancashire Telegraph: “I know the family well, the parents are nice people.”

“The incident wasn’t just murder, it was an honour issue.”

I am sickened by this barbarism.

Relatives and friends of Mr and Mrs Yousaf and their young daughter, Tania, must be feeling traumatised and bewildered. Why would anyone want to do such a terrible thing?

Am I shocked? Yes.

Am I surprised? Sadly, no.

Pakistan is a very violent place. It suffers from a debilitating malaise.

Corruption is deeply embedded. Nepotism is rife.

Only one per cent of adults pay income tax. It is, to all intents and purposes, a voluntary tax.

The levels of illiteracy, especially amongst women and girls, should be regarded as a national disgrace. A matter of deep shame.

The country only survives because of regular transfusions of cash from the reviled United States and the IMF and remittances from the huge worldwide Pakistani diaspora.

Without this life support the country would disintegrate.

Pakistan, if it wants a future worth looking forward to, needs nothing less than a social, cultural and economic revolution.

Without far reaching and transformational reforms, educated Pakistanis, or those with the means to get out, will leave for a new life overseas.