Honor killing Defines
An honor killing is a murder, nearly exclusively of a woman, who has been perceived as having brought dishonor to her family. Such killings are typically perpetrated by the victim’s own relatives and/or community and unlike a crime of passion or rage-induced killing; it is usually planned in advance. Official data shows that about 6000 were killed; most of these belonged to Punjab, followed by, Sindh, NWFP and Baluchistan. Of the 2774 murdered women, 1578 were killed in Punjab, 751 in Sindh, 260 in NWFP and 185 in Baluchistan. Of the 1327 murdered men, 675 were killed in Punjab, 348 in Sindh, 188 in NWFP and 116 in Baluchistan.2 In Sindh, it was noticed that literacy had a strange association with such killings, which is evidenced by the fact that nine such murders were committed in Karachi with literacy rate of 65.26%; the lowest literacy rate is in Tharparker (18.32%) where no such murder was committed.3 Women in rural areas are constantly suppressed and this reality is further augmented by low literacy level, male dominance and hidden agendas. But what I think that honour killing is associated with the ego the men have, and due to his wild person inside and the so called dominant behaviour.
defines “honor killings”
Honor crimes are acts of violence, usually murder, committed by male family members against female family members, who are held to have brought dishonor upon the family. A woman can be targeted by (individuals within) her family for a variety of reasons, including: refusing to enter into an arranged marriage, being the victim of a sexual assault, seeking a divorce — even from an abusive husband — or (allegedly) committing adultery. The mere perception that a woman has behaved in a way that “dishonors” her family is sufficient to trigger an attack on her life. In societies and cultures where they occur, such killings are often regarded as a “private matter” for the affected family alone, and courts rarely become involved or prosecute the perpetrators. The United Nations Population Fund estimates that the annual worldwide total of honor-killing victims may be as high as 5,000 women.
HONOR KILLING IN PAKISTAN
While women and girls die at the hands of their husbands, fathers and brothers in Pakistan, the authorities pay lip service to their obligations to protect them. The Pakistani authorities constantly ignore honour crimes at the expense of womens most fundamental human rights - the rights to life and freedom from torture and ill-treatment
cases:
Zahida was left with a disfigured face after an attempted honour killing.
Burying alive is often resorted to in karo-kari related crimes. |
A man, Munir, shot dead his mother, Haleema (40), for ‘Honour’ at Muhammadi Road in Shershah locality within the jurisdiction of Shershah Police Station. The jeering of the people living in the area making allegations about her character is supposed to have made him commit the crime. (Shershah, 14 July, 2010)
• Even pregnant women are not exempt from honour killings. An eight-month pregnant woman, 26-year-old Fahima, was allegedly killed by her family in the name of honour. According to the victim’s husband Gul Zamin, the couple had got married against their families’ wishes and eloped from Swabi to Karachi, where they had been hiding for the last seven years in fear of their lives. (Karachi, 20 January, 2010)
An honour killing is not an uncommon occurrence in rural Sindh where murderers operate with impunity, often killing a woman to cover up another crime, safe in the knowledge that they will be treated with leniency if he is seen as guardian of the moral order. It doesn't help that the police are more interested in lining their pockets than enforcing the law. According to an NGO worker, "Most honour killings are never be reported because the police is so corrupt. The people would rather suffer than go to the police."
I will tell you,
we love our daughters, but if one of them dares to love, she must be killed, the custom (karo-kari ) works by putting fear in the girls, because if one girl gets away with falling in love, the others here might think its their right to reject their engagements and fall in love. Their fathers and brothers will be shamed and their fiances' families will not forgive them. The men cannot be seen as weak, they will avenge their honour and there will be many unnecessary deaths.
CONCLUSION:
There are so many things to write about honor killing but it is of no use because of the government attitude towards stopping this menace, and eradicating from the society. Why we can not eradicate this brutality from society? Why we can not stop violence? Why we can not give rights to women? Why. In my opinion this is all because of the weak law and order situation and no fear of being punished. When criminals are rulling the government in Pakistan and sitting in the parliaments than in this situation how we can expect any change in Pakistani society. The only hope is that men should personally realize the rights of women and start considering them as human and this change can only be possible if illiteracy rate can be controlled. NGOs and human activists should conduct seminars and awareness campaigns to aware the people about the consequences of honour killing and should force the government to take effective steps to eradicate the wadeera hold from interior part of Pakistan other wise this practice can not be controlled and it will keep on increasing and make its hold more stronger.
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informattion taken from different webs
By: Aisha
