Pakistan – Rural “Kari” Women Accused of “Low Morals” Humiliated, Sold, Slain
Author: Womens UN Report Network
Date: April 14, 2014
WUNRN
PAKISTAN – RURAL PATRIARCHAL CUSTOM
OF KARI CONTINUES – WOMEN ACCUSED OF “LOW MORALS” HUMILIATED, SOLD,
SLAIN
By Sher Ali Khalti – April 13, 2014
“Help
me father, help me mother, help me my gracious God,” cried the helpless
girl in the presence of the whole village, but no one was ready to help her.
“I am not Kari (name given to a woman of ‘loose morals’ in tribal
culture). I am loyal to my husband; I know and respect my culture,” she was
saying.
She was running to save her life when a man came and hit her again and again
with an axe. She shrieked with pain and died within minutes.
The scene described above does not belong to a horror movie. This is reality
and the incident happened in a village in tehsil Rojhan, South
Punjab earlier this year and is mentioned in an FIR (First
Information Report). This woman Meer Bibi belonged to caste Jatoi, married to
Khayali Lallani. She was murdered by her own husband. He blamed his
wife for illicit relations with her cousin Chhero s/o Naukar. Nobody verified
the accusation.
It is a custom that the husband cannot be wrong. If he says his wife is Kari,
no one can challenge him as per society’s rules and customs.
An FIR No.45/14, serial No.25232, date 10.3.2014 was lodged by the police under
section 302/311 PPC against Khayali Lallani. The state became complainant to
discourage compromise between the two parties. ASP Rojhan Shabir Ahmed Sethar
told TNS, “The killer had no sign of repentance on his face; he admitted
with pride that he had declared his own wife Kari and killed her.”
The ASP said it was the first time that he had registered a case where the
complainant is the state. Otherwise, usually it’s the heirs who become
complainants. After some time, they forgive the killers who are then released.
This encourages this practice.
A common practice is that a person declared Kara has to give his sister in
marriage to the person whose wife is declared Kari. The Kara has to pay a fine
to the tune of Rupees one lakh to the husband of Kari. The Kari is killed but
if she survives the matter goes in jirga.
Karis are sold and married in other provinces.
The
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has an overall estimate of such
cases in Pakistan
which says 1265 women were killed in the name of Karo Kari from 2009 to 2013.
This data is based on the number of reported cases. Many cases go unreported.
HRCP reports say Karis were killed by firearms or sharp instruments. Some have
been reported to be poisoned. They say the murders are pre-planned and are not
sudden reactions prompted by ghairat. Women are always killed and men are not.
Husain Naqi, veteran journalist and human rights activist with HRCP, says
“Karo Kari or Kala Kali is being practiced in South Punjab and Sindh. NGOs, civil society, media and judiciary have played their role
against this inhuman custom. Still such incidents occur in huge numbers at
places where the literacy rate is abysmally low. NGOs must conduct workshops
and enhance awareness among the people to discourage this crime.”
A person who holds jirga in South Punjab, Balochistan,
Sindh and KP told TNS on condition of anonymity that jirga is the most
primitive legal institution. “Society is built on the basic unit of
family. Sanctity of marital relation is based on the concept of honour. Woman
plays a pivotal role in maintaining that. Jirga is the only integrating force
which stabilises family and respect for each other.”
He says whoever violates this basic discipline must pass through the same
process of agony which he or she has inflicted on the whole society. “If
state can take revenge from the accused, why can’t jirga play the same role on
a small scale,” he asks.
He says jirga is more acceptable “because it is a product of society while
state is an artificial structure which
commands with sheer naked force. Jirga is respected because it upholds
longstanding customs.”
According to lawyers, Article 9 of the Constitution guarantees that no person
should be deprived of life or liberty, save in accordance with law. Karo Kari
is not in accordance with law. The victim of Karo Kari is not given the right
to defend in accordance with the judicial system of Pakistan.
Similarly, Article 25 of the Constitution grants equality to citizens. A woman
in any big city of Pakistan
cannot be humiliated or punished as Kari while the women in faraway rural areas
do not enjoy the liberty, security of life and certainty in law. They also say
that if the state becomes a complainant in all Karo Kari murders, they can be
stopped.
Fareeda Shaheed, Executive Director Shirkat Gah Women Resource Centre who has
been visiting Rajanpur often to investigate Karo Kari cases, tells TNS the
practice of killing in the name of Karo Kari, Kala Kali and honour is going on
in all four provinces of Pakistan.
But the situation in district Rajanpur is very alarming. She says she has faced
threats each time she went to Rajanpur.
She further says that a Kari belonging to South Punjab is sold in Balochistan so that she is totally cut off from her relatives. If
she belongs to Sindh she is sold in KP, while the Kara has to leave his area
for one year. “The relatives of Kara try to settle the case.
This process is called Khaer or Haer in local language. Only after that,
Kara can return.”
In Sindh when women committees were made at taluka and district level by the
government, such incidents decreased. These committees were made to monitor
police stations. FIRs were lodged under the pressure of these committees,”
she says, adding that Karo Kari is an attitude which must change. How does
honour lie in this practice, she asks.
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