It is claimed 12 women are being murdered a year in 'honour killings' like that of Heshu Yones.

The teenager was hacked to death in an "honour killing" by her father Kurdish Abdalla Yones who believed she had become too westernised.

He was jailed for life after admitting the murder of A-level student Heshu, who had planned to run away from her home in Acton, West London, after starting a relationship with an 18-year-old Lebanese Christian boy.

The Metropolitan Police have now formed a task force aimed at understanding the complex cultural issue but admit that it is too little, too late for women like Heshu.

Commander Andy Baker, the head of the force's Serious Crime Directorate, said there were several reasons why such cases had proved difficult to investigate.

"Part of it's been our ignorance and lack of understanding of the motive," he said. "That's why we need to learn so much about it."

Police define an honour killing as a murder motivated by perceived dishonour to a family or community and stress that it is not limited to Islamic communities.

There have been examples of Sikh and Christian honour killings.

The hallmarks of honour killing are the murder of a female family member for breaking strict sexual taboos and bringing shame on the family. There have been cases worldwide of women being murdered for the "dishonour" of being raped. In some communities killing the women involved restores honour in the eyes of others.

The most frequent honour killers are husbands, brothers and fathers, although in some extreme cases entire families can be involved.

Dr Aisha Gill, a lecturer in criminology at the University of Surrey, said there were examples where men accused of honour killings had used a "cultural defence" argument.

"What is important to emphasise here is that cultural rights cannot override women's right to life," she wrote in a recent edition of Police Review.

Commander Baker agreed.

"Let this conviction be a message, loud and clear, to those who misrepresent their own communities, and condone or stay silent over the treatment of women in their midst," he said.

"We've got to stop it, we can prevent these murders," he said, adding that a handful of people still believed it was an appropriate cultural response.

And he said people who had tried to protect Yones could be investigated on suspicion of perverting the course of justice.

"We are completely satisfied that some members of the community, or his friends, tried to assist him in that cover-up."

Sawsan Salim, the co-ordinator of the Kurdistan Refugees Women's Organisation, said most Kurds condemned honour killings.

"No-one has the right to