In a rare edict, an Islamic council in Pakistan has issued a fatwa condemning the practice of "honour killing" over perceived harm done to a family's reputation, saying it is against the teaching of Islam and that anyone who resorts to this practice is a heretic, the Religion News Service reports.

The Sunni Ittehad Council, which includes more than 100 prominent Pakistani Muslim clerics, issued the fatwa on Sunday following a series of shocking killings, including last month's incident when a mother burned to death her own 16 year-old daughter who eloped with a young man from another ethnic group.

Hundreds of Pakistani women are brutally murdered every year by relatives after being accused of besmirching their family's honour, according to reports. Most cases involve young women eloping with their boyfriends against their family's wishes.

"It seems we are moving towards an age of barbarism," the council said in its fatwa.

"Burning women alive for marrying by their choice is against the teachings of Islam," said the council, which is affiliated with the Barelvi sect of Sunni Islam, the largest sect in Pakistan, a Muslim-majority country of 190 million people. The sect reportedly holds significant influence in Punjab province, where half of Pakistanis live.

"Considering any killing in the name of honour to be justified is heresy," the council declared in press statement.

Another "honour killing" took place last Friday when a father in the eastern city of Lahore, the capital of Punjab, killed his own daughter and her husband because he disapproved of their marriage.

Last year, more than 500 men and women were murdered on the basis of "honour killing," according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.

The toll this year, as of Monday, was 233 dead, the group said.

Those who engage in honour killings are never prosecuted because of laws that allow family members to "forgive" the killers, which results in charges being dropped.

The religious council called on the government to amend these laws.