As figures reveal the scale of 'honour' crimes for the first time, here are six cases that captured the country's attention

Tulay Goren

Tulay Goren, 15, from Woodford Green in north London, was killed in January 1999 for running away from home to live with her boyfriend. He was a fellow Turkish Kurd twice her age whom her family disapproved of because he was from a different branch of Islam. Her father, Mehmet Goren, was jailed for life with a minimum sentence of 22 years in 2009 for killing the schoolgirl after kidnapping, drugging and tying her up. Her remains, which police believe were buried in the family garden temporarily, have never been recovered.

Surjit Athwal

Surjit Athwal, a 27-year-old Sikh, disappeared after going to a family wedding in India in December 1998. Her mother-in-law Bachan Athwal, a mother of six and grandmother of 16, ordered Surjit's death at a family meeting after discovering that her daughter-in-law, a customs officer at Heathrow airport, had been having an affair and wanted a divorce from her son Sukhdave. The 70-year-old was ordered to spend a minimum of 20 years in jail for the murder, while her son, 43, was sentenced a minimum of 27 years behind bars in September 2007.

Awais Akram

Awais Akram was left severely disfigured after being attacked because of a liaison with a married businesswoman whom he had met on Facebook. The 25-year-old was beaten and stabbed before concentrated sulphuric acid was poured over his head, leaving him with 47% burns, in July 2009. The woman's brother Mohammed Vakas, 26, was jailed for 30 years in May 2010 for conspiracy to murder.

Samaira Nazir

Samaira Nazir, a 25-year-old graduate and recruitment consultant, died after she tried to escape her family home following a row with her family over her plans to marry an Afghan asylum seeker. Her brother Azhar Nazir, 30, dragged her back into the house where he and his distant cousin Imran Mohammed, 17, worked together to hold her and stab her to death. Her throat was cut and she was stabbed 18 times in the attack which took place in April 2005. The killers were given life sentences in 2006.

Ahmed Bashir

Ahmed Bashir died after he was attacked with a sword and a machete in the garden of his own west London home. Waseem Afsar, 32, and Nisar Khan, 31, both of Slough, stabbed and slashed the 21-year-old Afghan 43 times in 1996 for being in a relationship with Afsar's younger sister Nighat. The men were given life sentences with minimum terms of 18 years and 14 years respectively in November 2005.

Abdullah and Aysha Mohammed

Abdullah Mohammed, 41, and his wife, Aysha, 39, died after they were overcome by smoke and fumes at their home in Blackburn, Lancashire in a bungled "honour" killing. Four men firebombed their house in an attempt to kill a Muslim man who was having an affair with a married woman, but poured petrol through the wrong letterbox. All four were convicted of the double murder in August 2010.