Killing of Women &
Young Girls in Pakistan
In the name of Honor
during 2011
November 2011 write-up
At least 675 Pakistani girls and women, at least 71 of who
were under 18, were murdered during the first nine months of 2011 for allegedly
defaming their family’s honor, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has
said.
The
statistics highlight the scale of violence suffered by many women in
conservative Muslim Pakistan‚ where they are frequently treated as second-class
citizens and there is no law against domestic violence. Despite some progress
on protecting women’s rights‚ including the recent passage of The Prevention of
Anti-Women Practices (Criminal Law Amendment) Bill 2008, activists say the
government needs to do far more to prosecute murderers in cases largely
dismissed by police as “family affairs.”
An
HRCP official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized
to speak to the media, said figures were still being compiled from October to
December‚ and that a full report would be released in February next year. The
HRCP reported 791 honor killings in 2010 and there was no discernible decrease
this year‚ the official added.
Around
450 of the women killed from January to September were accused of having
“illicit relations” and 129 of marrying without permission. Some victims were
raped or gang-raped before being killed, he said. At least 19 were killed by
their sons, 49 by their fathers and 169 by their husbands.
Rights
groups say the government should do more to ensure that women subject to
violence, harassment and discrimination have effective access to justice. Ali
Dayan Hasan, Pakistan director at Human Rights Watch, said that the state’s
inability to enforce rule of law, leaving matters in the hands of tribesmen and
local elders‚ was a major factor. “We have a system in Pakistan where state and
judicial recourse are absent and the vacuum is filled by local elders,” he
said. “A combination of legal reforms‚ exercise of administrative authority and
social awareness can greatly help check the honor killings‚” he added.
Earlier
in Dec 2011‚ a Belgian court sentenced four members of a Pakistani family to
prison for the murder of their daughter and sister‚ who defied them by living
with a Belgian man and refusing an arranged marriage.
January 2012 write-up
There is a separate graveyard for those killed under
the pretext of karo-kari (honour killing) called ‘karan jo qabrustan’
(graveyard for the dishonoured) near Daharki. At this graveyard, built by the
Shar clan, people are buried without last rites and men guard the graves so
nobody can visit them and offer Fateha. Even in death, the punishment
continues.
While the custom of karo-kari prevails throughout Sindh, some
clans as Shar Bozdar, Pitafi and Jakhrani are particularly notorious for
killing people under the custom.
Shar Bozdar and Pitafi clans are concentrated mainly in Ghotki
and Kashmore, while the Jakhrani tribe is spread in areas over Jacobabad and
Kashmore.
In these tribes, the custom of killing in the name of honour
flourishes to serve many other ulterior motives. According to dictates of
people from the tribes and other smaller communities, men manipulate this
atrocious custom to get rid of their wives and marry a lover, to get
monetary benefit or share in property among other things.
According to a Sindh-based, women’s rights NGO, Samaj
Foundation, the number of women killed in Sindh was 284 in 2009, while in 2010
it fell to 266. The foundation has statistics until June 30 this year, where a
total of 155 cases were recorded.
However, according to the Human Rights
Commission of Pakistan,675 women and girls were murdered during the first
nine months of the year for allegedly defaming their family’s honour.
Kiran Daudpoto, director of Samaj Foundation,
has too many unfortunate stories to share. In June 2011, Arzana, a young
widow, was killed and buried in her courtyard by her father-in-law and
brother-in -law who wanted to sell her to an elderly man.
In another incident four years ago, 82-year-old Mai Bhagul was
branded kari by her son who had used up her savings for Hajj instead of making
arrangements for the pilgrimage. Such stories are many, some more brutal than
the rest.
There are various explanations as to how this custom found its
way in Sindh. Accounts of historians relate it to the pre-Islamic era.
They say the custom reached the sub-continent in the 17th
century when some Arab descendants, who used to bury their daughters alive,
came to settle in Balochistan. Killing young and old women in the name of
honour was common practice for them. Later, when the British tried to prohibit
the custom by announcing the death penalty for the perpetrators, people started
throwing women in wells and claimingthey were suicide cases. When the
authorities discovered that this tactic was being used, poisonous snakes used
to kill women instead.
Human rights activist Samar Minallah says the Sardars, elected
representatives and influential people are to blame for the practice. “These
people can stop such incidents as the decision of declaring people Kari or to
barter girls and equal scores rests in the Jirga. But they don’t stand for
justice so their voters don’t get angry.”
However, the Sardars of the notorious tribes deny the allegation
of their unjust behaviour with women and claim there is a lot of respect for
women in their community. MPA Sardar Ahmed Ali of the Pitafi tribe said that if
‘Niayani Mair’ (a group of girls) are taken to warring tribes, the elders cover
their heads with Ajrak and immediately agree to bury the hatchet. MPA Sardar
Rahim Bux from the Bozdar clan also added that women are always kept out of the
way of harm even during tribal feuds. Sardar Himmat Ali Kamariyo representing
his communities in Kamariyo, Abro, Jeho and Phul Poto communities also defended
Sindhi men. “It is wrong to say that the entire Sindhi community is cruel
and involved in crimes against women, there are very few such people giving a
bad name to all.”
Study claims men are willing to
sell or kill their wives
A pilot study on honour killings by Maliha Zia Lari, an
advocate, has revealed that some men are willing to sell off their wives, or
kill them in order to get rid of them.
According to the advocate, the 2004 criminal law
(amendment) has not had the desired impact. She said that since its
implementation, honour killings had actually increased.
Lari carried out a study titled, ‘Honour killings in Pakistan
and the compliance of law’ in collaboration with the Aurat Foundation’s
legislative watch programme for women empowerment.
She said that the research was conducted in 2010 to find out how
the criminal law amendment was being implemented and included police, court and
community evaluations. The study was conducted in Ghotki, Gujrat, Naseerabad
and Nowshera.
“The highest number of cases were reported from Ghotki,” she
said. “The least number of cases were reported from Nowshera. However, most of
the incidents in Nowshera are not reported.” She added that the biggest
limitation to their study was the lack of consolidated data available.
While studying the FIRs, she said that they were gender
insensitive as the police preferred to report such incidents as murder instead
of honour killings.
She explained the motive behind the authorities reporting karo
kari as murder, and said that the reasons cited for murder were usually
considered a negative reference to the woman’s character. Elaborating on her
point, she said that these usually included details such as the woman leaving
her husband or marryingwithout her family’s consent. She added that nearly
1,636 honour killings were reported in 2011.
The research also included detailed case studies, which
according to Lari were easier to access at the high court than the district
courts. She said that the Sindh High Court had a couple of recorded honour
killing cases while there were no reported cases in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or
Balochistan. She added that the police did not usually arrest the suspects
because of social pressure.
The police perspective
While talking about the authorities attitude towards honour
killings, DIG Abdul Khalique Sheikh, said that according to one of their
studies nearly 88% of police officers thought that there was no
difference between murder and honour killings. He added that for a police
officer, karo kari was a family matter.
The DIG said that it investigations for such cases was very
problematic as the evidence was hidden and witnesses were unwilling to
collaborate.
While talking about the status of an anti-honour killing
programme in collaboration with the United Nations, he said that so far they
had save 12 girls from getting murdered. He added the date from
non-governmental organisations was misleading and exaggerated.
Supreme Court advocate Anwar Mansoor Khan said that many
criminals could walk away free because of the option of qisas (blood money) and
diyat (financial compensation) in the 2004 criminal law (amendment).
