Pakistan – Honour Killing for Marriage of Choice – Daughter & Her Children
Author: Womens UN Report Network
Date: July 22, 2013
WUNRN
Asian Human Rights Commission
PAKISTAN – HONOR KILLING FOR
MARRIAGE OF CHOICE – DAUGHTER & HER CHILDREN +
July
27, 2013 – It was a very shivering news for the citizens of the country that a
grandfather killed his grandchildren and thrown them from the roof top in
presence of their mother who then killed by her father only for the protection
of honour of the paternal family. The crime of the daughter was that she
married with a man on her own choice not on the choice of the head of her
family. The father was so vindictive that he waited five years to take revenge
of his so called ‘honour’ with his daughter. He was very satisfied after taking
his revenge with the grand children who were never been the part of the
marriage of their mother on her own choice. He also killed two young men, the
brother of the groom as they are responsible for dishonouring his prestige.
Ms .Shahnaz Tahir resident of Tara Singh a village of Depalpur, district
Okara, Punjab Province was brutally murdered by her father and
his colleagues in the mid July night. Shahanz got married with Mr.
Tahir Sarwar five years ago. She eloped with Tahir which caused the stigma of
her family in their society. Her father vowed to kill her by following
traditional practices which are continued from decades.
Tahir after marriage left his home town along with his wife and lived in the
other city because of fear of honour killing. After five years of marriage when
they decided to visit their parents as they thought that their parents would
now accept them and their innocent but when daughter and his son in law arrived
at the house her father he opened the weapons on the family in the result
Shahnaz, her husband Tahir Sarwar, and two children Adnan and Ramsha,
two brothers in laws, Mr. Zahid and Mr. Nawaz were killed. After massacre her
father was very satisfactory and he opted to run away with the henchmen. As
usual case has been filed in police station and investigation is going on.
In the recent months Pakistan has witnessed brutal murders of married
several women in the name of honour and state remained as the silent spectator
to curb the century’s old medieval traditions. Though, Pakistan has made a very
categorical law which made the honour killing as the equivalent to crime of
murder. Otherwise the killings in the name of honour killings were treated as a
defensive crime to protect the prestige of the family.
It was sometimes said that the tradition of killing in the name of honour
was a typical way of the landlords who do not want to divide their property to
the in-laws of the daughter. However honour killing also extends to
marriage by choice and many addition issues in families . Rather than
accepting the marriage of a daughter on her own choice, realizing the burden is
off loaded the paternal family, resort to take it as dishonouring the pride of
the family and prefer to take law in their own hands. Such families know better
the rule of law does not exist; therefore it seems better for them to kill
the women and get the protection from the same the law which in real sense has
become impotent.
These types of cases are abundant and occurring in every corner of Pakistan
each year. The fire of revenge ended with the loss of innocent lives. The
reason was–marriage of own choice. Hundreds of women have been killed by their
brothers, fathers, cousins and other blood relatives because of using their own
rights. Similar type of case occurred in last year when a girl chose a
taxi driver as her life partner.
Another brutal murder was witnessed last year when Ms. Nargis from the Mardan,
Khyber Pakhtunkha province, was tortured to death and her two children were
killed by the family in honor killing. Nargis fall in love with a taxi driver,
Mr. Ehtesham, when this news was exposed to her parents they brutally beaten
her and kept her inside the house not allowing to go out. One day she was
succeeded to elope from house and married with Mr. Ethsham later they tied in
the marriage contract and lived a happy life. Nargis after long time went to
her home town to see her mother but she was welcomed by her own family with
severity. Her family members also beat ruthlessly her, two minor children and
when their thirst of revenge was not fulfilled then they thrown the infants
from the roof top of home and Nargis was forced to see her children’s murder
after that she was brutally beaten to death. case of murder was lodged by the
family of girl against her husband and Police in this case arrested Mr. Ethsham
and his brother and kept them inside the jail for four months and torured them
but all the records disproved the involvement of Ethsham in this case but
police forced the brother of Ethsham to give statement against his brother and
accept that his brother as suspected in this case. Later the Judge released
Ethsham and his brother and ordered for new inquiry.
Mostly every month many heart wrenching cases appeared from which some are
registered and some are not. Murder of two teen age sisters Noor Basra and Noor
Sheza by five gunmen in Chilas, GIlgit of Pakistan is one of them. They were
killed because of dancing during the rain outside of their home along with
other children and a video was recorded. Their dancing video was leaked in the
town on which their half brother killed them for the restoration of family
fame. The case was registered by the brother of the girls against their step
brother Khutore and four other alleged.
Similarly in Dera Gazi Khan a woman was stoned to death because of having a
mobile. This order was given by the feudal of the area and she was murdered in
the name of honor as having a mobile means dishonor for the family. These
barbaric actions are still alive in our societies and our state and law
enforcement departments are calm on it.
This is an alarming situation for women of Pakistan where killing of the
women along with their children in the name of honor is treated as it is no
more an offence but is according to Islamic traditions. The society is being
forced to denounce the marriage on the basis of choice of the couple. The
Talibanisation is not only restricted to the terrorist activities or bomb
blasts but its ideology against the freedom of women has seeped in the society
with speed and those things which were not in Islam has become the principals
of Islam. Therefore, the woman’s right to choose her own life partner is being
dealt with medieval violence and customs. They are killed while settling the
debts of families or married with aged people, to save the property they are
married to the Quran or sell in money, and they are being killed if they raised
their voice for their rights, killed if they seek divorce from husbands or the
domestic violence, religious misunderstandings against as religion is used
against them and many others.
Honor killings are propelled by many factors of the society including feudal
culture, customs, traditions, absence of criminal justice system and fair
trial, week judicial systems and a gender bias law enforcing agencies.
The landed aristocracy have a great influence in some areas of Pakistan
where they hold Jirgas (illegal judicial system for the settlement of the
disputes by elders) where generally decisions are taken against the women and
minor girls are exchanged to settle the feuds.
The question here is that in the presence of law, which made it a criminal
offence, the honour killings are shaping into very violent and brutal way.
Still no one has been punished according to the law because of the absence of
proper criminal justice system and witness protection law the killers get a
good patronage from the police. By seeking legal protection from Sections 323
of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC); the perpetrators (family member/relatives) not
only enjoy legal impunity but social redemption as well. The compensation
through the Diyat (section 323 of PPC) the perpetrators got impunity through
the law which allows to pay compensation to the victim to settle the dispute
outside the court and during that phase the victims (the women) are
intimidated, threatened or abducted to accept the meager amount as compensation
and courts remain as silent spectators. In many cases the gender bias judges
force the affected women to settle the crime outside the courts.
The said section of Diyat has also mentioned a minimum compensation of
Rupees 30,000 which has no value. But by keeping the amount of compensation at
a minimum level the perpetrators take the advantage of that amount. There is a
strong demand from the civil society of Pakistan to abolish Diyat but the state
and higher judiciary take shelter behind the Islamic teachings and covering it
with sacred norms.
If the higher judiciary and particularly Supreme Court does not take notice
of honour killings for punishing women to choose their life partners the
society will face worst kind of violence in the name of religion. The has to
ensure the protection of girls who are under threats. Government must stop the
all kinds of Jirgas.
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