In the Name of Honor
Honor killing in Pakistan has increased in the past 20 years and it may increase
in the future. Honor killing is basically killing innocent women, if she
disobeys the family or goes against their will. Islam has given right to every
woman to choose the man she wants to marry along with the consent of her family.
Forcing a woman to marry a man whom she dislikes is itself is a hideous deed,
let alone killing her for disobeying is nothing more than a cold blooded murder.
In Pakistan patriarchal culture is followed, where domestic violence is
considered as routine practice, to control woman and make them obey their male
comrades. For them killing women for deeds, which offend their manhood or in
other words reputation is not unusual for Pakistani men.
Women in Pakistan usually uphold a huge burden of cultural and social norms as
well as practices that restrict various opportunities for them. In order to
acquiescence or submit women to the patriarchal ideology, violence such as honor
killing is exercised in Pakistan. Female modesty and sexuality, for instance, is
based on the idea that she is the keeper of a man's respect. And as a result,
she is predisposed to be chastised or we can say killed in the name of ‘honor’
for entering into a relationship or in practices he presumes to be adulterous.
The facts and figures on honor killing are not credible because most of the
cases are unreported or considered as suicide, natural death or accidents by the
family members. Despite the fact that new amendments and laws are being passed
but the number of killings in the name of honor has not decreased. According to
the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), in the year 2014, 597 women and
girls were gang-raped, 828 raped, and 923 women and 82 minor girls fell victim
to honor killings in the country (HRCP, Lahore 2015).
According to UN, almost 5000 women are being killed under the name of Honor each
year (Nasrullah, Haqqi, & Cummings, 2009). In October 2016, the model Qandeel
Baloch was killed by her brothers, whom she used to support financially. Her
brothers justified their deed by saying “Girls are born to be at home and follow
the traditions only”. After this incident the parliament passed an anti-honor
killing law. The law was passed, in order to eliminate the loophole that the
heirs have the right to pardon the perpetrators, which in most of the cases are
blood relatives.
This is not only incident that has taken place in the recent months, despite the
new law and amendments. On November 16th, 2017, a man in the Ganj Bux Bajkani
village near Kashmore, killed his wife under the infamous tradition of karo-kari.
But, unfortunately a case has not been registered against the executor.
Similar, to this very incident, another young couple; a boy of 17 years and a
girl of 15 years belonging to Kohistan, who ran away during the month of
September, were killed on the orders of Jirga as they brought dishonor to the
community. The incident took place in Karachi, which we all know is not some
rural or tribal area of Pakistan, but still the jirga system is so strong in our
country that the unfortunate couple had to suffer such a terrible death; being
tied to a bed (chirpai) and electrocuted till their last breath. However, the
incident did not go unnoticed and the Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah took
notice of it and around 9 people along with the fathers and uncles of both
individuals have been taken into custody. The rest of the members of the jirga
are being sought after, as they have all gone into hiding after the incident.
Making the punishment harsher and increasing the years of imprisonment, is it
justified? Will this law provide justice to every girl like, Naghma 13 years
old, who was order to be killed by Jirga because she was accused of running with
men, or the couple who was electrocuted or the famous model Qandeel Baloch and
many other unreported cases? Although, the new law has brought in stricter
punishments of the perpetrators, but still the legal connoisseurs of Pakistan
believe that a relative might get away without getting the justified punishment,
if he/she can proof it is as a simple murder. Under the new law, even if the
convict is pardoned by the heirs of victim, he has to undergo 25 years of
imprisonment for killing in the name of honor. But, if the convict proves that
he killed the victim not in the name of honor but, let’s say a property dispute,
then he will only be imprisoned for 14 years or in few cases a death penalty
which is the said punishment for murder under various circumstances.
One of the ways, this can be overcome is through improving the investigation
process and the evidence collection. The honor killing cases are treated in the
same way as ordinary murder cases and this makes the compilation of evidence
incredibly difficult. Legal experts such as Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, a criminal
law expert and the president of the Islamabad High Court Bar Association, are of
the opinion that amendments should be made in the Qanoon-i-Shahadat (the law of
the evidence), so as to make the evidence collection more relaxed. This might
yield better results in the honor killing cases as instead of collecting direct
evidences i.e. the testimonies of the witnesses, the investigation should be
carried out on the basis of circumstantial evidence which could be electronic, a
letter, a message or any other related fact. If this is done, then it will only
be up to a judge to decide, whether the killing was a murder or an honor killing
and it will no longer be dependent on the direct evidence. This will certainly
place an onus on the judges, but will also augment the odds of getting the
convicts the warranted punishment according to law.
Honor killing is a menace prevailing in many rural and urban areas of Pakistan,
impacting the development of women. The education is changing the mindset of
people towards Honor killing but there is a long road to go. The higher
authorities should ensure that police officials to investigate these cases
imperatively and pressure from any political source or Jirga’s should be
eliminated. Special helpline and shelter homes should be developed, in order to
protect the women in case of any threat form the family that might result in
honor killing. Moreover, the government should work in collaboration with the
women’s rights groups to derive and put into practice explicit guidelines on
safety assessment. These guidelines should be performed clearly before releasing
girls into the custody of their heirs or family members. Lastly, the government
of Pakistan should act resolutely and promptly to make sure that no version or
rendition of religious or cultural practices should supersede basic human
rights.