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                        <title>The Express Tribune</title>
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                        <description>The Express Tribune keeps you up to date with all the latest happenings from Pakistan and across the world!</description>
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			<title>Pakistani couple sentenced to life in Italy for killing daughter</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2450649/pakistani-couple-sentenced-to-life-in-italy-for-killing-daughter</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2450649/pakistani-couple-sentenced-to-life-in-italy-for-killing-daughter#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 20 Dec 23 19:24:19 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[AFP]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2450649</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Saman had refused marrying her cousin in Pakistan]]>
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				<![CDATA[A Pakistani couple was sentenced to life in prison by an Italian court on Tuesday for the 2021 murder of their daughter after she refused an arranged marriage.

Saman Abbas, 18, was living in Novellara near Bologna when she disappeared in May 2021, having rejected the previous year her family&#39;s demand that she marry a cousin in Pakistan.

A tribunal in Reggio Emilia in central Italy ruled that the parents ordered the murder, and that an uncle had strangled his niece.

The uncle was sentenced to 14 years after accepting a plea bargain, while two cousins were acquitted in an affair which shocked the country.

Abbas had denounced her parents to the police and social workers placed her in a shelter in November 2020.

But she visited her family in April 2021, planning to pick up her passport and start a new life with her boyfriend, whom her family disapproved of.

She disappeared soon after, and police, alerted by the boyfriend, raided the family home in May but the parents had already left for Pakistan.

Read also:&nbsp;Father extradited from Pakistan to Italy in &#39;honour killing&#39; case

The young woman was probably killed the night of April 30 to May 1, according to surveillance camera footage showing five people leaving the family home with shovels, crowbars and buckets, before returning two and a half hours later.

A year later Abbas&#39;s body was found in an abandoned farmhouse with a broken neck.

Her brother told police that he had overheard his father talking about the murder and that it was the uncle who had killed his sister.

The father, Shabbar Abbas, was arrested in Pakistan and extradited to Italy in August 2023.

The uncle, Danish Hasnain, was turned over by French authorities while the cousins were arrested in Spain.

The four men were present at the trial, but the mother, Nazia Shaheen, is still a fugitive.]]>
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			<title>Father extradited from Pakistan to Italy in 'honour killing' case</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2433391/father-extradited-from-pakistan-to-italy-in-honour-killing-case</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2433391/father-extradited-from-pakistan-to-italy-in-honour-killing-case#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 31 Aug 23 17:39:02 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Reuters]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2433391</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Italian justice minister terms it ‘step forward’ to allow justice to run its full course]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[A man wanted for the killing of his 18-year-old daughter has been extradited from Pakistan to Italy where he will face trial, the Italian justice minister said on Thursday.

Shabbar Abbas was arrested in his village in Punjab last November on suspicion of killing Saman Abbas, his daughter, who had gone missing in April 2021 after refusing to travel to Pakistan for an arranged marriage.

&quot;This is a step forward to allow justice to run its full course after an horrific crime,&quot; Justice Minister Carlo Nordio said in a statement, adding that the suspect was on his way to Italy.

The teenaged victim was identified by dental records after human remains were found near her family home in the northern Italian town of Novellara more than a year after her disappearance.

Read also: Italians identify remains of Saman Abbas in &#39;honour killing&#39; case

Prosecutors believe that the family was angered when they found out that Abbas had a boyfriend in Italy.

They allege she was killed when she returned to the family home to collect some documents after living nearby for a while under the care of social services.

The father has denied that his daughter is dead. Her uncle was extradited from France to face trial, along with two of her cousins.]]>
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			<title>Sindh’s vision lags behind modern demands</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2286747/sindhs-vision-lags-behind-modern-demands</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/2286747/sindhs-vision-lags-behind-modern-demands#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 27 Feb 21 20:58:57 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Razzak Abro]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=2286747</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[As many as 108 women were killed in the name of Karo-Kari in Sindh during 2019 — Human Rights Commission of Pakistan]]>
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				<![CDATA[Despite taking several measures to provide social protection and relief to the women of Sindh, the provincial government still has to accomplish much. These measures range from making legislation, setting up relevant government bodies and launching projects with investment worth millions.

The reasons behind slow progress in gender equality are lack of implementation of relevant laws, male dominance in women-specific government institutions and mismanagement of funds earmarked for administrative affairs.

Several women-specific provincial bodies apart in addition to Sindh Women Development Department are functioning and are allocated large funds. In addition departments like Planning and Development also manage projects for women.

Women Development Department&rsquo;s administrative expenses during the current financial year are over Rs348 million. Documents revealed that Rs148 million are employee-related expenses including allowances.

According to department statistics 72 percent of total employees are male. Thus women employees in the department constitute only 28 percent. According to the Finance Department over Rs122 million is earmarked for employees&rsquo; salaries working in Karachi, most of whom, are males. 

The department has set up development complexes in different districts &ldquo;to address the needs of the area women. The schemes approved for Sukkur, Shaheed Benazirabad, Sanghar, and Karachi were scheduled to be completed by June 2020, but none were for different reasons.

The department officials informed the Sindh Assembly recently that it had set up women complaint cells in divisional headquarters to &ldquo;provide protection to women in distress/crisis and render basic legal, medical and counselling services to needy women&rdquo;. Yet dozens of women continue to be killed under Karo-Kari (honour killing) every year in Sindh.

According to Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, 108 women were killed in Karo-Kari (honour killing) in Sindh during 2019 and in most of the cases, no legal proceedings were initiated. &ldquo;Of the cases that were initiated, more than 90 percent are pending trial for different reasons. In most cases police have not completed its investigation,&rdquo; the HRCP reported.

Similarly, in most cases of violence and other crimes committed against women in Sindh no legal action was taken. According to the HRCP report, the Sindh Ombudsman said before the Supreme Court that 388 cases of harassment of women at workplaces were filed but &ldquo;action had been taken in only eight cases&rdquo;.

Vice Chairperson HRCP Sindh, Qazi Khizar, told The Express Tribune that Sindh had made commendable legislation pertaining to women rights compared to other provinces but it was lacking in implementation. He said Sindh Assembly had made important legislation in 2019 under which women working in the agriculture sector for the first time were recognised as formal labourers.

Sindh Minister for Women Development Department, Shehla Raza admitted delay in the implementation of laws and completion of projects. Responding to the queries, she said: &ldquo;The implementation of laws requires time,&rdquo; she said adding that sensitising women about their rights and relevant laws was also necessary.

She also agreed that the ratio of women employees should be more than the male employees in the women-specific government bodies, saying that it is not possible because of merit criteria. &ldquo;The women complaint cells at least should have 100 percent women employees,&rdquo; she added.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 28th, 2021.]]>
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			<title>In the name of honour: Woman kidnapped by father, brothers, says husband</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/1076051/in-the-name-of-honour-woman-kidnapped-by-father-brothers-says-husband</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/1076051/in-the-name-of-honour-woman-kidnapped-by-father-brothers-says-husband#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 30 Mar 16 23:28:20 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[K-P]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=1076051</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Rabia Bibi’s husband fears her family might kill her for marrying without their approval]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[A man allegedly kidnapped his married daughter with the help of his sons and other relatives in Guliabad village in Baffa, Mansehra on Wednesday.

A police official told The Express Tribune, Rabia Bibi was on her way home with her husband Muhammad Amir and his family when her father Behram and her brothers, Tariq and Hashim, ambushed their vehicle.

They attacked the couple and shot Amir’s family. As a result, Rabia Bibi, Amir, Ishtiaqur Rehman, Saeedur Rehman and Amir’s mother Resham Jan were injured. The injured were rushed to King Abdullah Teaching Hospital and subsequently shifted to Ayub Teaching Hospital Abbottabad for tertiary care.

“Amir told the police Behram and his sons kidnapped Rabia Bibi,” the official said. “They are going to murder her in the name of honour.”

Hurling allegations

According to the official, Rabia Bibi had married Amir in June 2014.

“Amir told the police Rabia’s family was not happy with her decision,” he said.

“As a result, Rabia’s relationship with her family remained strained. A series of attempts were made to seek forgiveness from them. However, the matter could not be resolved.”

After they got married, Rabia Bibi’s family registered an FIR against Amir and accused him of kidnapping her.

“However, Amir told the police his wife had recorded a statement under Section 164 of Code of Criminal Procedure, stating she had married him of her own volition,” the official said. “The case is still pending with a family court in Mansehra.”

Without a trace

On Amir’s complaint, the police have registered a criminal case against Behram and his two sons under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Behram and his sons remain at large while Rabia Bibi’s whereabouts remain unknown.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 31st,  2016.]]>
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			<title>In the name of ‘honour’: Man gunned down by in-laws</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/1055154/in-the-name-of-honour-man-gunned-down-by-in-laws</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/1055154/in-the-name-of-honour-man-gunned-down-by-in-laws#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 26 Feb 16 21:29:55 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=1055154</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Rehman and Shazia Bibi eloped nine months ago and solemnised their marriage in court]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[A man was allegedly gunned down by his in-laws in a remote village of Bakot in Abbottabad on Friday. According to the police, Mansoorur Rehman, the 26-year-old son of Muhammad Irshad and a resident of Liyran Syedan village, was romantically involved with Shazia Bibi, daughter of Syed Shabbir Shah of the same village. Rehman and Shazia Bibi eloped nine months ago and solemnised their marriage in court. However, since Shazia Bibi’s family was not happy with her decision, her grandfather and uncles planned to avenge her act of “dishonor.” On Thursday evening, they called Rehman to their house on the pretext of reconciliation and when he reached, Shazi Bibi’s grandfather, Ali Haider Shah, along with his sons, Shabbir Shah, Faheem Shah and Naveed Shah opened fire, killing Rehman on the spot. However, police added, the whereabouts of Shazia Bibi are still not known.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 27th,  2016.]]>
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			<title>PM Nawaz meets Sharmeen Obaid, vows to remove 'stain' of honour killings from Pakistan</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/1047304/pm-meets-sharmeen-obaid-chinoy-vows-to-remove-stain-of-honour-killings-from-pakistan</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/1047304/pm-meets-sharmeen-obaid-chinoy-vows-to-remove-stain-of-honour-killings-from-pakistan#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 15 Feb 16 10:36:48 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[abdul.manan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=1047304</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Premiere of Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy's documentary on honour killings to be held at the PM's Office on February 22]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday met Oscar-winning filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy at the Prime Minister House in Islamabad.

"Customs and practices like honour killings have nothing to do with the divine principles and theories of Islam," PM Nawaz told Chinoy.

"The revolution brought by Islam in the world manifested through the life of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was the most successful movement for change of social reforms. It altered the course of history for all time to come. It was Islam which first recognised the rights of women."

The premier went on to add that honour killings were one of the most critical problems in the country and the government is determined to adopt all possible ways to remove this stain from our society.

[tvideo url="http://content.jwplatform.com/players/kWrRBi5m-mUh3U9sk.html"]

"Women are the most essential part of our society and I believe in their empowerment, protection and emancipation of achieving the shared goal a prosperous and vibrant Pakistan," PM Nawaz.

During the meeting with Chinoy, the premier reaffirmed that all concerned authorities have already been directed to plug loopholes in existing laws in order to eliminate honour killings from Pakistan.

"Social evils can be overcome through an effective partnership between the government and the civil society," said the PM.

The premiere of Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy's documentary, A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness, will be held at the Prime Minister's Office on February 22, PM Nawaz announced after the meeting.

Further, acknowledging Chinoy's efforts, PM Nawaz wished her success for her film, which was nominated in the 88th Academy Awards.

Expressing gratitude, Chinoy said, "I am proud that Pakistan has a prime minister who has taken a leading role to address the issue of honour killings in the country."

She also thanked the premier for supporting her endeavours to end honour killings in the country and revive the progressive image of Pakistan.

The filmmaker appreciated the role of Maryam Nawaz in helping the government in achieving its goals set in the sector of education. The meeting was also attended by Maryam Nawaz Sharif and SAPM Tariq Fatemi.]]>
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			<title>Crimes against women: Father kills two young daughters for ‘honour’</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/956884/crimes-against-women-father-kills-two-young-daughters-for-honour</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/956884/crimes-against-women-father-kills-two-young-daughters-for-honour#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 14 Sep 15 21:30:09 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[shamsul.islam]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Punjab]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=956884</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Police said that her in-laws had accused her of having an extramarital affair with someone]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[A man killed his daughters, a 10-year-old and a 16-year-old, over ‘honour’ on Sunday. He then chopped up their bodies and threw them in River Ravi.


Police said Amina*, 16, had been living with her father Rab Nawaz in Bobdi Aya near Tulamba village after developing differences with her in laws. Police said that her in-laws had accused her of having an extramarital affair with someone. Police said Nawaz had accused his 10-year-old daughter of having a ‘bad character’.

On Sunday night, he attacked Amina and her 10-year-old sister with a knife and killed them. He later cut up the bodies and threw them in the river and fled, police said.

Police said they had registered a case against Nawaz on his son Ramazan’s complaint. They said Ramazan had been working and living in Lahore for several years.

Ramazan told police that Amina had left her in-laws’ house because her husband used to beat her up for not bearing him a child after a year of marriage.

Police said on Monday they took Amina’s father-in-law into custody for interrogation. They said they had found some parts of the bodies from River Ravi, near Tulamba in Khanewal district.

Separately, a woman was attacked with acid in Rajoa police precinct on Monday over litigation.

The Rajoa SHO said Asma Bibi, a resident of Adda Pathan Kot, Chiniot, was the complainant in a murder case against some men suspected of killing her brother a few years ago. He said the defendants had allegedly been pressuring her to withdraw her complaint but she had refused to settle the matter out of court. Police said on Monday, the men attacked her with acid and managed to flee. Asma Bibi received serious injuries and was taken to the Chiniot DHQ hospital for treatment. Dr Asad Rafiq, on duty at Emergency Ward, said that she had received 75 per cent burns. “She is in intensive care at the moment and her condition is serious.”

Rajoa police said they had not yet registered a case as nobody had filed a complaint about it. “We will register a case after we get a medical examination report.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 15th, 2015.]]>
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			<title>Deconstructing honour crimes in Pakistan</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/795713/deconstructing-honour-crimes-in-pakistan</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/795713/deconstructing-honour-crimes-in-pakistan#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 23 Nov 14 09:37:19 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[zahid.gishkori]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=795713</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Thousands of rape cases go unreported in rural areas particularly of those in south Punjab]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Thousands of Pakistanis have been killed by their relatives in the name of honour or have committed suicide in the last five years. It’s neither the state nor the government that sanctions these murders. These occur as a result of a grotesque mentality that many uneducated people share.

Unfortunately, it would not be wrong to say those who live in civilised societies compare life for Pakistani women to being in the Stone Age. When a woman elopes with a lover, or defies her parents and refuses to marry someone who has been chosen for her, she is in danger of being killed either by her own relatives or those of her potential husband. The male-dominated society thus blatantly defies her wishes.

Each day in my country, at least four women are either killed in the name of honour or are forced into committing suicide out of fear of being killed. Figures collected by human rights activists claim that around 3,540 women were killed and 2,860 have committed suicide in the last five years. I was told by the representatives of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan that seven women are being raped every day in this country. The commission’s figures further claimed that some 10,492 rape cases were reported during this period.

With these jaw-dropping figures, I have observed that thousands of rape cases go unreported in rural areas particularly of those in south Punjab. Being a part of the society where a majority of women have no say in who they will marry, I have met many families who adhere to old beliefs that women are essentially married to the scripture or, in a few rural areas of Layyah, Muzaffargarh, Loralai and Rajanpur, to inanimate pieces of nature, such as trees or rocks.

In 2011, our parliament passed a landmark bill to protect women but tales of spine-chilling honour killings continue to surface. Why is there no implementation on these laws? Why is the state so weak that hardliners defy these laws? Why are judges frequently threatened and the police bribed to allow killers to go free?  These questions need to be answered.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 23rd, 2014.]]>
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			<title>Honour killing: Four get death for lynching pregnant woman in Lahore</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/794169/honour-killing-four-get-death-for-lynching-pregnant-woman-in-lahore</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/794169/honour-killing-four-get-death-for-lynching-pregnant-woman-in-lahore#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 19 Nov 14 21:59:54 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Rana Yasif]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Punjab]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=794169</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Farzana Parveen was stoned to death by members of her family outside LHC in May.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Wednesday sentenced four men to death for murdering a pregnant woman in Lahore for marrying a man of her choice.


Farzana Parveen, 25, was attacked by members of her family, including her father and brothers, who stoned her to death in broad daylight before a crowd of onlookers in front of the Lahore High Court for defying their wishes.

After nearly 6 months of legal proceedings, ATC Judge Haroon Latif awarded death sentences to four accused the father, brother, cousin and ex-husband of the victim for murder and terrorism.

Prosecutor Rai Asif Mehmood said the sentences were handed down on three counts of murder, terrorism and the killing of an unborn baby and the court had also fined each defendant Rs100,000.



Parveen’s killing in broad daylight sparked outrage in nearly every quarter of society. Condemning the barbaric incident, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had ordered immediate action against the killers.

Issuing the much awaited ruling, the court handed death sentences to Parveen’s father Muhammad Azeem, brother Zahid Iqbal, fiancé Mazhar Abbas and a cousin, Jahan Khan with an additional 13-year jail term to another brother, Ghulam Ali.

The court awarded death sentence to the accused under different sections of the Pakistan Penal Code and Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA).



The convicts had also injured two persons during the attack on Parveen, for which they were handed a one year jail term along with a penalty of Rs20,000 each.

Incidents of honour killing have been widely condemned in the country. Every year, hundreds of women are killed by their families on charges of actual or imagined adultery. However, incidents of public stoning are rare.

Parveen, who was three months pregnant at the time of her death, was attacked as she and her husband, Mohammad Iqbal, arrived at Lahore High Court to dispute charges brought by her father that Iqbal had kidnapped her.

Her family was enraged when she married Iqbal, a widower, instead of the cousin who had been chosen by her parents.

Within minutes of reaching the courthouse, Parveen was assaulted by her brother and spurned fiancé along with a dozen male relatives who used bricks and clubs in the so-called honour killing for disobeying her family’s wishes.

A crowd of onlookers, including police officials outside the court building, failed to intervene during the assault, and Parveen died hours later of massive head injuries.

Four men, including Parveen’s uncle Muhammad Atta, cousins Jehangir Ahmad and Azeem, and a driver, Muhammad Nasir, who fled the scene were arrested nearly three days after the gruesome killing on May 30 while her father was detained on the spot.

Subsequently, cases were registered against them under Sections 302, 148, 149 of the PPC and 7-ATA.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 20th, 2014.]]>
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			<title>Farzana murder case: LHC hands death sentences to killers</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/793593/farzana-murder-case-lhc-hands-death-sentences-to-killers</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/793593/farzana-murder-case-lhc-hands-death-sentences-to-killers#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 19 Nov 14 08:41:02 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[reuters]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=793593</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Farzana Iqbal was stoned to death in an apparent 'honour killing' by her father, brother and cousin]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Lahore High Court sentenced to death on Wednesday four relatives of a woman who was bludgeoned to death by her family in an apparent 'honour killing' earlier this year in May. 

Twenty-five year old Farzana Iqbal was previously engaged to a cousin but chose to marry one Muhammad Iqbal instead, following which, her family registered a kidnapping case against her husband.

While waiting at the LHC to record her statement in favour of her husband, members of Farzana's family opened fire on her followed by nearly a dozen men, including her father, brothers and former fiancée pelting her with stones and bricks.

The court today gave its decision on the case and sentenced Farzana's father Iqbal, brother Zahid Iqbal and cousin Jahan Khan to death, said defence lawyer Mansoor Afridi.

Another suspect Ghulam Ali was also sentenced to 10 years in prison and a fine of Rs1 million.

Afridi said the family planned to appeal, adding that the verdict was "a decision based on sensationalism." The state prosecutor was not immediately available for comment.

In 2013, 869 cases of so-called "honour killings" were reported in the media, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. The true figure is probably higher since many cases go unreported.

Murder in the name of honour is 'haraam' and it is not permissible in Islam for such an offence according to the members of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC).]]>
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			<title>'Honour killing': Brothers kill mother, stepsisters in Lahore</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/789158/honour-killing-men-kill-mother-two-step-sisters-in-lahore</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/789158/honour-killing-men-kill-mother-two-step-sisters-in-lahore#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 11 Nov 14 05:15:22 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Hassan Naqvi]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=789158</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Accused say they have no regrets as they killed them in name of honour]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Two brothers in Lahore murdered their 50-year-old mother, Sughra, and two stepsisters Amna and Muqqadas, aged 16 and 18 respectively 'in the name of honour' early Tuesday morning.

The murderers confessed to the killing and surrendered themselves to police along with the murder weapon - a sharp knife.

The police moved the bodies to the Jinnah Hospital mortuary and registered an FIR under section 302.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, the forensic expert at Jinnah Hospital said that there were marks of sharp knife on the necks of the deceased.

One of the brothers accused his stepsisters of being involved in prostitution, adding that he and his brother had reservations over their characters.

“We have no regrets because we killed them in the name of honour,” the brother said.

The other brother said they had previously given warnings to their sisters for their alleged involvement in immoral activities.

“We killed our mother because she was supporting them,” he added.

SP Saddar Ijaz Shafi Dogar told The Express Tribune that it seems to be a case of honour killing and that police will carry out investigation covering all aspects.

Earlier on November 9, a man had killed his sister and her former husband in Batala Colony area.

On October 18, a man axed to death his daughter and injured his wife and brother in People’s Colony after accusing the women of having loose character.]]>
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			<title>Armed assault: Girl, alleged lover killed over ‘honour’</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/772431/armed-assault-girl-alleged-lover-killed-over-honour</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/772431/armed-assault-girl-alleged-lover-killed-over-honour#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 09 Oct 14 04:32:40 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondents]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[K-P]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=772431</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Meanwhile, school teacher injured by gunman in DI Khan]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[A boy and girl were allegedly killed for honour in Garhi Kapura area of Mardan on Tuesday.

A police report stated Fazal Haq, a resident of Yaqoobi, Swabi, was suspicious about his sister having an illicit relationship. A police official said that on third day of Eid in the area, Haq allegedly killed his sister whose name could not be ascertained. Later, the accused also killed his sister’s alleged lover Jawad Ali. The policeman said they carried out raids in the area to arrest the culprit but he is still at large.

Meanwhile, a government school teacher was injured when an unidentified assailant shot at him at his residence in Mohallah Qureshi in DI Khan city on Tuesday.

A police official said Zahid Abbas was at home with his family when there was a knock at the door at around 8:20pm. When Abbas went to answer the door, the attacker opened fire with a pistol. Abbas was rushed to District Headquarters and Teaching Hospital in an injured condition. Abbas’s father Manzoor Hussain lodged an FIR at City police station against unidentified attackers saying they had no known enemies. It was not immediately clear if the attack was sectarian in nature.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 9th, 2014.]]>
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			<title>Honour killing: ATC indicts five suspects in murder case</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/731780/honour-killing-atc-indicts-five-suspects-in-murder-case</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/731780/honour-killing-atc-indicts-five-suspects-in-murder-case#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 06 Jul 14 04:46:54 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=731780</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Farzana was allegedly stoned to death after she married of her own will.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) on Saturday framed charges against five men suspected of killing 25-year-old Farzana Bibi, including the woman’s father, after she married against their wishes.


The judge summoned the prosecution witnesses on July 7.

Charges have been framed against Muhammad Azeem, father of the deceased, Muhammad Zahid, Ghulam Ali, Mazhar Abbas and Jahan Khan.

Farzana Bibi was murdered, even stoned to death by some account, near Lahore High Court a few weeks back after she married Muhammad Iqbal of her own volition.

The case took an interesting turn when the deceased’s sister Khalida Bibi filed two applications in an additional district &amp; sessions court.

The first application sought the registration of a case against her sister’s husband, a dozen suspects and another 12 unknown persons for killing her sister.

The second application sought recovery of her father Muhammad Azeem from illegal detention.

In the first application, the judge directed Khalida Bibi to assist investigation and submit evidence before the police to prove guilt of complainant’s side.

The court dismissed the second application after the police said that they had mentioned the arrest of the accused in its Roznamcha on May 30.

Khalida Bibi claimed that Muhammad Iqbal conspired with police officials to indict her father. At the time of incident, she said her sister had met her family and her husband feared she would record a statement against him in court.

According to Khalida Bibi, her family tried to pacify him but Muhammad Iqbal, along with his accomplices, attacked her with a brick.

An FIR was registered under sections 302, 148 and 149 of the Pakistan Penal Code against Muhammad Iqbal and 7-ATA against accused Muhammad Azeem and five others and 22 unknown persons.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 6th, 2014.]]>
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			<title>No remorse: Girl killed by uncles for having a ‘bad character’</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/730922/no-remorse-girl-killed-by-uncles-for-having-a-bad-character</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/730922/no-remorse-girl-killed-by-uncles-for-having-a-bad-character#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 04 Jul 14 04:43:22 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[shamsul.islam]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=730922</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Her father filed a complaint against his brothers but later retracted his statement.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Two men reportedly killed their 13-year-old niece in village 345-JB on Wednesday for having a “bad character”. Police have arrested the two men on Thursday.


Nawan Lahore police said the girl’s father told them that his daughter was home alone on Wednesday when his brothers went to his house and saw her “in a compromising position with a local boy with whom she had illicit relations”.

The boy fled after seeing the two men. The uncles then beat the girl with hammers and killed her.

Ashiq Ali, a relative of the girl, told journalists on Thursday that the girl had been seeing a boy from the area. She had reportedly called him to her house while her parents were away. He said her uncles had become infuriated upon seeing her in an objectionable position with the boy.

The girl’s father gave a different version to The Express Tribune.

He said his daughter had had illicit relations with a boy from the area.

He said that they [his daughter and the boy] were both “making merry” at his house on Wednesday when his brothers walked in on them.

He said the boy managed to escape and his daughter tried to run away too but accidently ran into a door and injured herself seriously. He said his brothers were preparing to take her to a hospital when she passed away.

The father vehemently denied allegations that his brothers had killed his daughter.

“I have not filed a complaint against anyone...but the police went ahead and arrested my brothers anyway,” he said. “They will probably ask us for a bribe to release them.”

The Nawan Lahore station house officer said that they had registered a case under Sections 302 and 34 (murder and complicity) of the Pakistan Penal Code on a complaint filed by the  girl’s father’s.

He said that the father had told them that two of his brothers had used a hammer to kill his daughter for ‘honour’.

He said the police had arrested the two men on Thursday in connection with the statement.

They will be produced in court on Friday.

The station house officer also said that the girl appeared to have been killed at 10am but her father had informed the police about the  murder at around 11pm.

When asked why the father had given The Express Tribune a different version from the one he gave to the police, the station house officer said that he [the father] was definitely lying to protect his two brothers.

The station house officer reiterated that he had filed a complaint against the two suspects and recorded the version of the girl’s father.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 4th, 2014.]]>
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			<title>Love marriage: Father slits throats of daughter, son in-law</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/728560/love-marriage-father-slits-throats-of-daughter-son-in-law</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/728560/love-marriage-father-slits-throats-of-daughter-son-in-law#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 29 Jun 14 03:10:46 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[agencies]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=728560</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Man slit throats of teenage daughter, her husband little over week after couple had married for love, say police.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[A man slit the throats of his teenage daughter and her husband Thursday night a little over a week after the couple had married for love, police said on Saturday.


The 17-year-old girl and 31-year-old man married on June 18 without the consent of their families in the village of Satrah, police said.
The girl’s mother and father lured the couple home late Thursday with the promise that their marriage would receive a family blessing, said local police official Rana Zashid. “When the couple reached there, they tied them with ropes,” he said. “He (the girl’s father) cut their throats.”
Police arrested the family, who said they had been embarrassed by the marriage of their daughter to a man from a less important tribe.
Meanwhile, one Vishno Kolhi axed to death his wife in Talhar town of Badin district, and then surrendered himself to police. The couple had married just one year ago. 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 29th, 2014.]]>
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			<title>In cold blood: Two killed over ‘honour’ in Upper Dir</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/726433/in-cold-blood-two-killed-over-honour-in-upper-dir-2</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/726433/in-cold-blood-two-killed-over-honour-in-upper-dir-2#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 25 Jun 14 04:38:23 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[K-P]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=726433</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Sania Bibi was gunned down after her brother-in-law allegedly saw her with a man in an ‘objectionable state’.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[A man and a woman were gunned down in Mohallah Changal area of Darora, Upper Dir on Tuesday, in an apparent case of honour killing.


Gandigar police official Farooq Jan said the incident occurred early morning.  According to Jan, Sania Bibi’s brother-in-law Majeed Khan allegedly saw her with a man named Anwar in an ‘objectionable state’. Following this, an enraged Khan opened fire at the two, killing Sania on the spot.
Jan further said Anwar managed to escape from the scene but Khan chased him down and shot him dead in the street.
Police rushed to the site and arrested the accused. His AK-47 was also confiscated, added Jan. A case has been filed and further investigation is under way.
On February 22, a man and woman were gunned down by unidentified persons for honour in Barawal, Upper Dir.
According to Barawal police, unidentified assailants opened fire at Wahidullah and Zubaida Bibi after allegedly spotting them in an ‘objectionable state’. Wahid was married and was allegedly having an illicit relationship with Zubaida.
Recent honour killing incidents in K-P 2014

June 8: A man gunned down his 18-year-old sister Naima Bibi for using a cellphone against his will in Kaghan Valley.

May 26: Two pregnant women were gunned down in Katlang, Mardan for allegedly having an affair.

May 25: A man and a woman were shot dead in Bekara in Tank district for allegedly having an affair.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 25th, 2014.]]>
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			<title>Man kills sister, relative for ‘honour’</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/726048/man-kills-sister-relative-for-honour</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/726048/man-kills-sister-relative-for-honour#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 23 Jun 14 22:13:41 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Punjab]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=726048</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Muzammil shot dead his sister Amina Bibi and relative Hashim Khan after he saw them in “objectionable condition”.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[A man killed his sister and a relative on Sunday night for allegedly having an affair.


Lalianwala police said that Muzammil Ali, a resident of Islamabad, shot dead his sister Amina Bibi and relative Hashim Khan in his house after he saw them in an “objectionable condition”.

Akhtar Ali, a close relative of Muzammil Ali, claimed that Ali had earlier stopped Khan from visiting his house over the suspicion that he was having an affair with his sister.

“Two days ago, Ali went to Murree. When he returned home late on Sunday, he saw Khan at his house with his sister,” he said. Ali became furious and shot both of them dead, he said.

However, Khan’s brother Asim told police that his brother did not have a romantic relationship with Amina. He said Ali had had dispute with Khan over money and had invited Khan to his house on Sunday night to settle the matter. Asim said that Ali had murdered his brother with help from four of his friends and later killed his sister as a cover for the crime. Police arrived at the scene and took the bodies in custody. The Lalianwala SHO told The Express Tribune that they had registered a case and were investigating. “A case has been registered against five people on Khan’s brother’s complaint. We are conducting raids to look for the suspects,” the SHO said.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 24th, 2014.]]>
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			<title>Killing with impunity: Four women, one man killed for ‘honour’</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/722032/killing-with-impunity-four-women-one-man-killed-for-honour</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/722032/killing-with-impunity-four-women-one-man-killed-for-honour#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 14 Jun 14 21:49:15 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Punjab]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=722032</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[A woman killed by her brother-in-law. Her husband was also killed when he tried to save her.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Five people were murdered in so-called honour killings and four were murdered over property on Saturday.


In Khanewal, a man killed his brother and sister-in-law, accusing the latter of having an extramarital affair.

Police said Amir shot Zubaida* and his brother when he tried to save her. Two cousins who were present at the time were also injured.

They were taken to Khanewal DHQ Hospital where doctors later said their condition was stable.

The police have arrested Amir in a raid.

In Multan, 28-year-old Omar Khalid shot his 23-year-old sister for honour. She died on the way to Nishtar Medical Hospital. Khalid is still at large.

In Rajanpur, a 31-year-old woman was shot and killed by her father.

Police said he also shot and injured his younger daughter and fled. He was later arrested and confessed to the shootings. In Cheechawatni, a man cut his wife’s throat after he accused her of having an affair. Ghaziabad police have arrested him and he confessed.

He told the police in a statement that he had a right to kill his wife because she had embarrassed him. Separately, in Cheechawatni, a man killed his older brother over a bag of fertiliser. Police said on Friday Zubair had bought a fertiliser bag from his younger brother Talha. On Saturday, Zubair refused to pay Talha for the bag. They said Talha shot him in retaliation. Kasowaal police arrested him.

In another incident, two cousins were killed over a property dispute that has gone on for 28 years. Police said some men shot four cousins while they were working in the fields. They said one of them died on the spot while another died at the hospital. They said the other two were in a critical condition.

In Sahiwal, a man was killed over a property dispute and two others were injured. Police said 32-year-old Saqib was shot thrice and died on the way to the hospital. Police said their family told them he had an inheritance dispute with some cousins.

*NAMES HAVE BEEN CHANGED TO PROTECT IDENTITIES

Published in The Express Tribune, June 15th, 2014.]]>
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			<title>‘Honour’ killing: Police asked to record stance of Farzana’s sister</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/719735/honour-killing-police-asked-to-record-stance-of-farzanas-sister</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/719735/honour-killing-police-asked-to-record-stance-of-farzanas-sister#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 09 Jun 14 23:08:22 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Punjab]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=719735</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Petitioner says her sister wanted to reunite with the family.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[District and Sessions Judge Tariq Iftikhar directed police on Monday to record the statement of the sister of the woman who was killed by her relatives in front of the Lahore High Court on May 27.


The judge also ordered police to submit challan of the case expeditiously.

Khalida Bibi, the petitioner, told the judge police were reluctant to record her statement against those she called the “actual” culprits.

She said her family had filed a kidnapping complaint at Sayedwala police station against Parveen’s “so-called husband”, Muhammad Iqbal.She said Iqbal had filed a murder complaint against her father although he was himself responsible for Parveen’s killing. Bibi accused police and Iqbal of concealing the facts.

Earlier, Additional District and Sessions Judge Abdul Qayyum had asked Bibi to provide any evidence she had against Iqbal to police.

He had ordered the investigation officer to proceed against Iqbal if evidence was available against him.

Advocate Mansoorul Rehman, the counsel for Bibi, told the court Iqbal had killed his first wife to marry Parveen. He said Parveen was married to another man, Muzaffar Iqbal, on May 10, 2012.

The lawyer said Iqbal later kidnapped Parveen and that her family had registered a case against him, his son Aurangzeb and some other people.

Rehman said Iqbal also made Parveen file a suit for dissolution of her marriage with Muzaffar. The suit was withdrawn a few days later.

Later, Aurangzeb produced a nikkah nama before police claiming that his father had married Parveen and not abducted her.

Police investigated the matter and concluded that Parveen had married Iqbal without being divorced by Muzaffar, the lawyer said. He said police then registered a case under Section 494 (marrying again during lifetime of husband or wife) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Rehman said Parveen then moved to Darul Aman where she told Bibi that she wanted to live with her parents.

“She told Bibi she was going to the high court on May 27… and that she wished to reunite with her family.”

Rehman said that Parveen had rushed to meet her family in the court but Iqbal had stopped her. “Iqbal feared that she would record a statement against him.”

Published in The Express Tribune, June 10th, 2014.]]>
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			<title>In reply to SC: Police submit report into Farzana’s murder</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/718583/in-reply-to-sc-police-submit-report-into-farzanas-murder</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/718583/in-reply-to-sc-police-submit-report-into-farzanas-murder#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 07 Jun 14 04:41:10 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Hasnaat Malik]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=718583</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[CJP has taken suo motu notice of the alleged honour killing outside the LHC premises.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Punjab police have submitted a detailed report in the Supreme Court regarding the alleged honour killing of a 25-year-old woman outside the Lahore High Court (LHC). Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani had asked the IGP to submit report, after taking a suo motu notice of the incident.


Submitting a report, the Punjab police told the top court that according to the medical report, Farzana received two injuries — one to her head and other to her leg. The police also revealed that during the scuffle, one unknown accused fired a shot which hit Farzana near her ankle after which sub inspector Muhammad Arif snatched the pistol from the assailant hence no further shots were fired.

“The father of the victim, Muhammad Azeem, hit Farzana with a brick while her brother Zahid and cousin Mazhar Iqbal also hit her. Farzana expired on the spot before the arrival of police,” says the report that is submitted in the Supreme Court by Provincial Police Officer (PPO) Punjab Khan Baig. The copy of report is available with The Express Tribune.

Earlier, the CJP on May 30 took suo motu notice of the alleged honour killing of Farzana outside the LHC premises on May 27.

The Punjab police have nominated six known and 15 unknown accused in this murder case and section 7 of Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) 1997 has also been added in the report submitted to SC.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 7th, 2014.]]>
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			<title>Woman survives honour killing bid</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/718180/woman-survives-honour-killing-bid</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/718180/woman-survives-honour-killing-bid#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 06 Jun 14 05:11:55 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Punjab]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=718180</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[18-year-old woman miraculously pulled out alive from canal after family members shot her twice, threw her into water.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[An 18-year-old woman was miraculously pulled out alive from a canal on Thursday after members of her family shot her twice, bundled her into a sack and threw her into the water.

Apparently her family tried to kill her because she married against their will.

Cantt police have registered an attempted murder case against four people, including the woman’s father and brother. The woman, a resident of Iftikhar Colony, Gujranwala, told the police that she had married one of her relatives without her family’s consent last week. She said that her family had been furious over the marriage.

“Her condition is out of danger and we have registered a case against her family on her complaint,” a police official said.

In her statement to the press, she said that her father Maqsood Ahmad, brother Faisal, uncle Ashfaq Ahmad and aunt Sajida Bibi on Thursday took her to Hafizabad to buy wheat. Instead, they shot and injured her.  Presuming her to be dead, they put her into a sack and threw her into a canal. Some Rescue-1122 officials fished the sack out of the water and saved her. They took her to the district headquarters hospital.

Police said they had arrested Maqsood Ahmad and Faisal from their house in Iftikhar Colony, Gujranwala.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 6th, 2014.]]>
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			<title>Islam does not sanction honour killings, says PUC</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/718192/islam-does-not-sanction-honour-killings-says-puc</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/718192/islam-does-not-sanction-honour-killings-says-puc#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 06 Jun 14 04:59:29 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=718192</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Conference on interfaith harmony requests Hindu, Sikh leaders to resolve their disputes.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Honour killing is a criminal act of brutality forbidden in Islam, the Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) declared on Thursday, urging the government to conduct unbiased investigations into cases of violence reported against different sects and religions.


The PUC issued this decree at a conference on Thursday which was aimed at answering the question, ‘why is inter-faith and inter-sectarian dialogue necessary?’ The conference was attended by hundreds of religious scholars from different sects, representatives of non-Muslim communities and ambassadors of more than 15 countries.

In his opening speech, the PUC’s central chairman, Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi said that thousands of scholars, clerics, mosques and seminaries, students and philosophers affiliated with the PUC are of the opinion that dialogue is the only way to resolve issues.

A comprehensive three-page ‘fatwa’ issued by the PUC on honour killings stated that the murders that are being committed in the name of honour or dignity neither fulfil legal conditions nor abide by Islamic values.

Hence, such murders are to be considered as criminal acts and atrocities that are forbidden in Islam and such elements are enemies of both Islam and humanity, said the decree. It’s the responsibility of the government and courts to take action against the perpetrators, it added.

The joint declaration expressed grave concern over growing violence and intolerant attitudes in Pakistani society and stressed that all Muslims and non-Muslims should disassociate themselves from any action causing harm to anyone.

The conference also asked the government to conduct unbiased investigations into acts of violence against followers of different religions and sects. With particular reference made to the attacks on Hindu temples and desecration of the Sikhs’ holy books, the conference requested the Hindu and Sikh leaders to sit together and resolve their disputes. The declaration further said that those who commit blasphemy against the Prophet [PBUH] cannot be the followers or representatives of any religion. Therefore, anyone accused of blasphemy should not be released. Likewise, no innocent person should be punished for blasphemy.

Also present at the conference, Federal Minister for Law Justice and Human Rights Pervaiz Rashid, accompanied by Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Mohammad Yousuf, assured that the government was serious in resolving the issue at hand and would make efforts to control the violence as well as carry out legislation wherever required.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 6th, 2014.]]>
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			<title>Up in arms: Protesters lament society’s apathy in Farzana’s murder</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/716656/up-in-arms-protesters-lament-societys-apathy-in-farzanas-murder</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/716656/up-in-arms-protesters-lament-societys-apathy-in-farzanas-murder#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 02 Jun 14 22:30:43 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Hassan Naqvi]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Punjab]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=716656</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[‘Religious and educational institutes share the blame’.]]>
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				<![CDATA[More than 10,000 women in the country face violence of various kinds each year and more than 1,000 are killed in the name of honour...that doesn’t even include the cases that go unreported,” Women in Struggle for Empowerment Executive Director Bushra Khaliq said at a protest demonstration on Monday to condemn the murder of Farzana Iqbal who was stoned to death by her family outside the Lahore High Court premises.


The demonstration was organised by the Mumkin Alliance of Civil Society Organisations at Charing Cross. The protesters chanted slogans and held placards stating There is no Honour in Honour Killings; Men can change; Women rights are Human rights; No more honour killings and What Kind of an Islamic Republic is this in which women aren’t protected.

Khaliq said, “Our society is riddled with a feudal mindset that wants to control women. Unfortunately women are very vulnerable in our society...the entire society, including religious and education institutions, is responsible for honour killings.”

Khaliq criticised the Council of Islamic Ideology which she said had allowed for escalation of violence against women.

International Association of Human Rights Chair Rubab Mehdi H Rizvi said inaction by the police, in this case, indicated that an extremist version of Islam was being accepted as mainstream.

“According to the University of Al Azhar, honour killings are not just un-Islamic but anti-Islamic. The basis of honour crimes lie in greed, power, money and a tribal version of Islam,” Rubab said.

She said Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) had spent his entire life challenging oppressive tribal norms in which the rich had an advantage over the poor, the white people on black and men over women.

Rubab said that extremists all over the world targeted women, arts and education.

“This so-called honour killing has embarrassed Pakistan at the international level. It is obligatory upon us women, to ensure that these victims live through us...I hope the brutal murder of Farzana will ignite the conscience of all Pakistanis in taking steps towards a better Pakistan,” Rubab said.

Mumkin Alliance Coordinator Shazia Shaheen said, “At least six incidents of honour killings have taken place in the last six days...where are our law enforcement agencies...These killings depict the failure of the state.” HomeNet Pakistan Executive Director Ume Laila Azhar strongly condemned the heinous stoning to death of Farzana Iqbal who she recalled was three months pregnant. Azhar said the incident was gruesome, appalling and deplorable.

“The failure of the police at the scene to rescue her shows the level of apathy among law and justice enforcing agencies,” she said.

“This is because of double standards of law enforcement agencies who, instead of implementing the law, find ways to save the culprits,” protesters said.

Mumkin Alliance urged the Punjab Commission on the Status of Women, and the Women Parliamentarian Caucus to pressure the government to take strict action against the murderers.

The Strengthening Participatory Organization (SPO), the Aurat Foundation, the South Asia Partnership, the HomeNet Pakistan, the Working Women Organisation, the SIMORGH, the Bedari, the ASR, the WISE, the War Against Rape, the AGHS, the CHRE and the Action Aid, took part in the demonstration.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 3rd, 2014.]]>
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			<title>Broken consciences: The Pakistani woman</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/716572/broken-consciences-the-pakistani-woman</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/716572/broken-consciences-the-pakistani-woman#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 02 Jun 14 20:22:24 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[asad.rahim.khan]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=716572</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Solutions abound. The problem is where to start. Because in a land like this, even honour can mean an enduring shame.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[It’s not stoning to death. Not exactly, if we’re to follow the police’s line. A woman wasn’t stoned to death in broad daylight, by a mob of blood relations. She was beaten to death with bricks.

In a sick society, the means of mutilation is all that’s in dispute. There are 10 different versions of this story, but what’s common in all of them is that a pregnant woman was murdered in the daytime, and a crowd gathered to watch.

This is what falling apart at the seams sounds like.

There’s the other sounds too: the candlelight vigil with the same six or seven brave souls we call civil society. The fury from women’s rights groups. The silence of the right, so quick to condemn everything from Bosnia to Burma. The executive snoring and stirring, then snoring again.

And the inevitable editorials asking ‘how could this happen?’, or alternatively ‘what happened to us?’

Nothing, if we were to concern ourselves with the truth. Soul-searching tends to fall by the wayside when one considers the relevant police officer’s answer: ‘It is a routine murder case like other murder cases, and has to be seen in the context of Pakistani society.’ In the context of Pakistani society, he said.

The truth is, he’s absolutely right. If society is a set of norms, this set of norms is bent on breaking its women, then debasing them after the fact.



Take the state, which supposedly holds the system together. Number of women in positions of real influence: not any, unless they’re wives or daughters (score 1 for the Pakistan Peoples Party). Expect underpasses to outweigh women’s rights four more years.

We then move to the fruit of governance: policy. Here, the apathy of the government gives way to the obsession of its high priests. The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) can advise the centre on anything from cleanliness drives to interest-free banking — but this crew of cavemen has eyes for little other than ladies.

The CII holds forth on all matters womanly, from deeming DNA evidence inadmissible in rape cases to permitting child marriage. For a country deep in darkness, these men are meant to spread the light.

But that doesn’t begin to touch on the justice system, which is why we’re here in the first place. Those numbed by Farzana Parveen’s public execution were once as stunned by the case of Safia Bibi, a blind girl raped by her employer and his son, bearing a child that would die in hospital. She was still in physical shock when the police lodged a case of fornication against her.

A judge called Chaudhry Muhammad Aslam held Safia’s testimony inadmissible. He sentenced a blind 20-year-old girl to three years in prison and 15 lashes on the grounds that there wasn’t evidence she complained early enough. Horror followed, and the Federal Shariat Court dove in to acquit Safia. Her rapists walk free today.

This should have been the watershed; when even the Pakistani male would realise this country was becoming no place for the girls he was raising. He didn’t, and we now desperately look to Farzana Parveen as the possible turning point.

A family of ghairatmand men conspired to murder a 25-year-old woman and her unborn child, and people stopped to stare. Five years from now, it’ll be another dirty FIR with byzantine twists and dead relatives — one of the millions that litter our thaanas.

Murder will remain privatised: a crime against the individual, where forgiveness is transacted for blood money. The kind that allowed Farzana’s husband to strangle his first wife, and the kind that will allow his in-laws to have murdered his second. With laws like these, justice is a joke.

And yet neither the law nor the state is the tragedy in all this. We are. Because it was already clear that the social health and betterment of Pakistan’s women — this country’s one lifeline — isn’t on the agenda. But what’s clearer is how averse this land is becoming to such an agenda if it ever were.

Pakistan’s founding was led by a woman, a polity that elected a woman as prime minister twice, and a society driven more by its mothers than its sons. Yet that same society, through years and years of tolerating what was done to its women, has brought us to this: a place that creates a Farzana Parveen every day.

We didn’t see it when the great Iqbal Haider tabled a bill against honour killings, and just four parliamentarians pledged support.

We didn’t see it when General Musharraf — who otherwise pushed through the Women’s Protection Bill to his credit — said, “A lot of people say if you want to go abroad and get a visa for Canada or citizenship and be a millionaire, get yourself raped.”

And we didn’t see it when Jamshed Dasti, our own romantic Robin Hood, called the Mukhtaran Mai case ‘a conspiracy against Islam’, and held her rapists’ acquittals to have wiped the ‘dhabba’ from Muzaffargarh. With hometown heroes like Dasti, Muzaffargarh may need all the cleaning up it can get.

But though we see nothing, we speak the opposite: acid victims are prostitutes. Rape victims are black marks. Murdering your child is killing for honour. Even burying your daughter alive can pass for ‘centuries-old tradition’, according to Israrullah Zehri, a man who makes our laws.

What’s frustrating is that solutions are everywhere: remaking murder a crime against the state, reforming the evidence collection system that allowed Mukhtaran Mai’s assailants to go free, repealing a host of malicious laws, and perhaps actually telling our children that generations are judged by the way they treat their women.

As for the depraved among us, France’s ‘non-assistance à personne en danger’ sounds the right remedy. The French law criminalises deliberately failing to assist a person in danger, which is exactly what Farzana Parveen’s onlookers were: criminals.

Yes, solutions abound. The problem is where to start. Because in a land like this, even honour can mean a deep and enduring shame.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 3rd, 2014.

Like Opinion &amp; Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.]]>
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			<title>A shameful record</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/716265/a-shameful-record</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/716265/a-shameful-record#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 01 Jun 14 19:01:20 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[kamal.siddiqi]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=716265</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Pakistani men are possibly one of the most violent in the world today – towards their womenfolk.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Pakistani men are possibly one of the most violent in the world today – towards their womenfolk. It’s not enough to harass, intimidate and abuse them, we burn our women, cut their noses and other body parts, throw acid on them and kill them on the slightest pretext. In most instances, in the name of honour.

Age is never a bar. This week, a US judge convicted an elderly Pakistani immigrant of murdering his wife in their New York home, savagely beating her over the head.

75 year old Noor Hussain, frail and beset with medical problems, believed it was his right to discipline his wife, his third marriage, when she did not cook food as per his desires. She had made Daal instead of Saalan. So he killed her.

This mindset is not exclusive to our rich and powerful. It seems this is a trait that crosses all social, ethnic, religious and cultural divides. In some ways, it unites many men in Pakistan.

In fact, that was the plea that Hussain’s lawyer took in court. She said that her client was culturally raised to believe that he had a right to discipline his wife.

Noor Hussain was unlucky that he was caught out by the American system. Similar is the case of many British Pakistanis who have tried to impose their will on their wives and daughters – in some instances killing them for the “crime” of marrying according to their wishes. Eventually many end up in jail.

In many instances, such families have had sent their daughters to Pakistan to be married against their will where they are then kept imprisoned. There is a full time section at the British High Commission in Islamabad that helps such girls return to the UK.

Not so in Pakistan. Here it seems our system endorses, if not encourages, violence against women. In most instances, the women remain quiet. Many rape victims end up committing suicide. Those who speak up or demand justice are instead punished.

Who can forget Fakhra Yunus, whose husband threw acid on her face. That husband remains scott-free. Last year he even stood for elections. She, on the other hand, committed suicide in 2012 despite support from the Italian government to help rehabilitate her.

Who can forget the case of Mukhtara Mai? She still has not gotten justice. Instead of punishing the rapists, the government was more interested in defending our image. President Musharraf said that he did not let her go abroad because she would bad-mouth Pakistan. Then minister Attiya Inayatullah and advisor Neelofer Bakhtiyar were used to bully Mukhtara Mai. Musharraf famously said once that women get raped so that they can get a visa to Canada.

This week we saw another horrifying incident. The stoning to death of a 25 year old woman, Farzana Parveen. She was attacked by 20 family members on the steps of the Lahore High Court because she married a man of her choice. While she was being attacked, the police looked on and did nothing.

During the assault she was hit on the head with bricks from a nearby construction site and died. The incident triggered outrage across the world, but not much in Pakistan. What followed was even more worrisome. Parveen’s husband Mohammad Iqbal then confessed that he had killed his first wife to marry Farzana. And that he was spared prison because he was forgiven for the act by his son. One can only wonder.

According to a non-official count 5,151 women have been subjected to violence this year in Punjab alone — among them 774 murdered, 217 killed for ‘honour’, 1,569 abducted, 706 raped/gang-raped and 427 driven to suicide. The number of women killed for giving birth to girls has gone up. In one recent incident, a man was reported to have thrown acid on his wife’s face for delivering a girl.

The “crimes” of women in Pakistani society are many and varied. Those mentioned above are the visible ones. The invisible violence is more numerous and causes greater havoc. Common forms of non-cognisable violence are preventing girls from acquiring education, the destruction of girls’ schools, restrictions on women’s mobility, denial of jobs on merit and equal wage for equal work, child marriages, forced marriages, and tendering of girls to resolve feuds. The list goes on.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 2nd, 2014.

Like Opinion &amp; Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.]]>
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			<title>Farzana Parveen and the death of the state</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/715415/farzana-parveen-and-the-death-of-the-state</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/715415/farzana-parveen-and-the-death-of-the-state#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 30 May 14 18:56:05 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[raza.rumi]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=715415</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Farzana’s case represents all that is wrong with us: from misuse of a faith-based legal system, to embedded...]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Farzana’s brutal murder represents all that is wrong with us.

It has become a useless routine to condemn the most ghastly acts of violence and injustice in Pakistan. For many, these are daily occurrences and thus the levels of desensitisation have grown. So has the brutalisation of society, when it adapts to some bare facts and upholds and sometimes celebrates the worst of what constitutes custom, tradition or ‘culture’. What else would explain the fact that there were dozens of passerby near the Lahore High Court — known for its imposing architecture and not the delivery of justice now — who silently witnessed the death of a woman scorned for choosing her partner? Worse, the police did not intervene either. This has become the norm with what we know as the ‘state’ in Pakistan. It chooses to remain indolent, indifferent and even complicit at times. This has left the citizen vulnerable. The weaker you are, the more chance there is of your life meaning absolutely nothing.

A few weeks ago, I underwent the worst of nightmares. Seeking help on a roadside with two wounded men: one almost dead and the other struggling to stay conscious. My romanticism for my own country was shattered on that fateful night of March 28. I am privileged and lucky that I escaped a brutal, unsung death but a life was lost. A large crowd had gathered to ogle at the blood sport but none of them was willing to help in taking a near-dead body out of the car. On a busy street, no car was willing to stop to take my injured driver to the hospital. Farzana’s death and her calls for help have only reopened my wounds — far from healed and as painful as before. This state of our society, drunk on honour, pride, ghairat and other medieval notions of self-worth, has crossed all tolerable levels of dysfunction. Yes, two girls were also hanged, allegedly gang-raped in India, and crimes against women are prevalent in other societies as well. But, at least, there is collective uproar, pressure on the governments and results.

In our case, it took the prime minister 48 hours after the event to take ‘notice’ and to date, the head of the Punjab government, otherwise celebrated for his style of governance, to even condemn the barbarity in a city that he intends to turn into Paris. With all the Metro Buses and fast rails, twisted highways and expensive underpasses, there seems to be a breakdown of the social fabric. Wanton violence and a high-level tolerance of lethal outfits, their affiliates and dozens of ‘sleeper cells’, make a mockery of the shining Punjab story.

Farzana’s case represents all that is wrong with us: from the misuse of a faith-based legal system that ‘forgives’ the murderer, to embedded misogyny and the stark absence of a ‘state’ that is supposedly there to arbiter citizen protection and welfare. Farzana’s husband had murdered his first wife to marry her. Her sister also became reportedly a victim of honour killing and nearly 1,000 women reportedly are killed in the name of custom and tradition that is founded on a spectator sport where women, minorities and the marginalised are killed with impunity.

Take the case of Dr Mehdi Ali, an American-Pakistani doctor volunteering in Pakistan. He was shot dead in front of his family (a child included) with more than 10 bullets. And the high and mighty of this land cannot even acknowledge that he was gunned down since he was an adherent of a faith that Pakistan’s political and religious elite shunned through a constitutional edict. Exactly 40 years ago, Pakistan’s state officialised discrimination on the basis of faith by declaring the Ahmadiyya community non-Muslim. Sadly this happened under a civilian government backed by a political consensus. Dr Mehdi Ali’s murder and the brazen killing of nearly 90 Ahmadis in 2010 are but a continuum of what was decided by our elected leaders, the religious guides and of course, sections of the press. To say that killers don’t get apprehended or punished in these cases is to in fact miss the larger picture. They cannot be in a society that has been engineered by the state since the 1970s. This is why condemning an Ahmadi’s murder is somehow viewed as approving of their faith by the hardliners. Hate speech is no longer recognised as such. It is the norm, the correct worldview in a collective quest for mythical ‘purity’.

There is cleansing underway now except that it has engulfed everyone in it. Shia genocide, attacks on Christians and Hindus, targeting of Sufi shrines, almost everyone is a target of the rival armed advocate of a puritanical ideology. Have we even debated on the increased use of mob justice from cases of alleged blasphemy cases to the lynching of young men declared guilty without trial in Sialkot in 2010, and to instances of petty theft on streets. Injustice and inequities fuel this fire and those at the helm remain busy in pursuing the most trivial power games, played time and again in the sordid political history of Pakistan.

Many have asked for arrests, others have demanded suo-motu notice to push Farzana’s case. The few dozen ‘civil society’ activists are busy chanting the decades-old slogans. All of this has been tried with no results. Mukhtaran Mai could not get ‘complete justice’ despite the suo motu, the highest level of judicial intervention. And in the presence of discriminatory laws, how will victims of honour crimes even think of justice?

There is something even more troubling at work. And it has to with the abdication of state responsibility. It is simply a breakdown of the fragile postcolonial citizen-state relationship. Whether Pakistan’s moth-eaten political parties and its truncated democratic process have the capacity to re-craft that relationship is unclear. Thus far, the signs are not encouraging.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 31st, 2014.

Like Opinion &amp; Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.]]>
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			<title>Chilas town: Saving ‘honour’ or family riches</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/576737/chilas-town-saving-honour-or-family-riches</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/576737/chilas-town-saving-honour-or-family-riches#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 14 Jul 13 04:53:34 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[shabbir.mir]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Gilgit Baltistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=576737</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Relatives say motives behind Chilas triple murder more complicated than they appear.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[The highlands, as beautiful and idyllic as they may be, are also very, very troubled. Chilas town, in particular, the headquarters for Gilgit-Baltistan’s Diamer Valley, an area rich in natural resources but one that hardly has a 10% literacy rate – has also seen a staggering 12 cases of honour killings this year alone.

One such incident is the killing of a mother and her two daughters last month, allegedly over a simple audio clip recording. And yet, as a follow-up reveals, the case may be more complicated.

Shrouded in mystery

The triple murders occurred on June 24, a day after armed men stormed a Nanga Parbat base camp, fatally shooting 10 foreign mountaineers and their Pakistani guide.

According to the police, 65-year-old Iqbal, nicknamed Kutooro, shot his step-mother, 45, and his two sisters, aged 16 and 18, after hearing a ‘objectionable’ recorded conversation in which the mother was allegedly talking to a man identified as Sartaj. When the audio clip made rounds, and residents heard about the area, Iqbal carried out the attack to ‘restore’ the family’s honour.

However, relatives have a different story to tell.

“It’s not correct to say that it was an incident of honour killing,” says Javed, a family member. “It was all about money.”

Javed says that Rahmat Nabi, Iqbal’s father and a retired police officer in the valley, received Rs50,000,000 as compensation for his land, acquired by the government for the Diamer-Bhasha dam project.



Nabi, well into his nineties, has three wives and several children. His third wife, who was killed by Iqbal, was rumoured to be his favourite. According to Javed, he transferred the money to her and children from her, while also allotting two houses to her name.

“The sense of losing everything upset Kutooro [Iqbal] immensely,” says Javed. “He went crazy and went on the killing spree.”

Whispers of conspiracy 

A few years ago, Nabi was also jailed for murdering one of his sons-in-law. He was released after two-year imprisonment for being too old and weak.

Javed and other family members say they cannot rule out the involvement of the slain son-in-law’s relatives, who want revenge.

Invasion of privacy

The triple murder also made headlines for another reason – human rights organisations have taken strong exception to the leakage of the recorded conversation.

“It’s an infringement of privacy rights. Under Article 14 privacy rights are guaranteed in the Constitution of Pakistan,” explains Shahzad Ahmad, the country director of Bytes for All, a human rights organisation with a focus on information and communication technologies. “In this case, technology has been misused, resulting in the loss of precious lives.”

Ahmad says the person who leaked the audio must be taken to task to check the misuse of technology.

According to officials, it is widely believed that Sartaj recorded the conversation and circulated it in the area.

Hilal Ahmed, SP of Diamer Valley, says the person who has leaked the conversation will be brought to justice.

Despite what the relatives claim, Ahmed says there is no doubt that this was, in fact, an honour killing, and also dispels rumours that it was a video recording, not an audio.  “All this is mentioned in the FIR,” he remarks. “Investigations are underway and we will soon nab the killer.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 14th, 2013.]]>
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			<title>‘Honour’ killings</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/538554/honour-killings</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/538554/honour-killings#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 21 Apr 13 16:11:41 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=538554</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[These men should be caught, and if found guilty put on trial, be severely punished, indeed be made an example out of.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[One wonders what sort of feeling towards humanity those have, who can inflict harm, indeed even kill, their own children, nieces and nephews, and what one can hope for a society made up of such people. On April 17, a case was filed near Rahim Yar Khan against a man, for allegedly strangling his niece to death because she eloped with a man. The charge has not as yet been proven, but is easy to believe given the number of honour killings in the country, with a Human Rights Commission of Pakistan report published earlier this month, saying that over 900 females, including almost 100 minors were killed for “honour” last year. We condemn the militants, and rightly so, for targeted killings and mass murders, but at times, it seems that it is no wonder that their recruits come from among just these people whose sense of “honour” propels them to kill brutally and wantonly in its name.

In yet another case, in Sadiqabad, a man has been accused of killing his sister on suspicion of having an affair. In a particularly brutal killing, he allegedly hit his sister several times with a butcher’s cleaver. In both cases, the police are looking for the alleged culprits who appear to have disappeared. That these men should be caught, and if found guilty put on trial, be severely punished, indeed be made an example out of, cannot be stressed enough. Notions of false honour have prevailed in society for far too long, and are yet another way of perpetuating the feelings of insecurity in people, as well as curtailing their basic freedoms, such as whom to wed. Furthermore, the panchayats usually set up to deliver verdicts on the charged, act as parallel courts and undermine the country’s judicial system. It is only the implementation of strong laws against honour killings and a decisive effort to educate the people that can put an end to this. Until this happens, tribal customs and false notions of honour will prevail, undermining humanity, as well as the state, which ultimately is responsible for the security of its citizens.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 22nd, 2013.]]>
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			<title>Honour killing: Man kills wife, stabs himself</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/465839/honour-killing-man-kills-wife-stabs-himself</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/465839/honour-killing-man-kills-wife-stabs-himself#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 15 Nov 12 05:21:50 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=465839</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Murder case filed on complaint of Bibi’s brother Muhammad Asif.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[A newlywed woman was stabbed to death in Dhoke Chaudhrian on Wednesday by her husband, who then slashed himself with the same knife.


Police and rescue officials reached the spot and sent the body of Mussarat Bibi, 28, for postmortem, while  the man, Abid Hussain, was sent to Benazir Bhutto Hospital.

A murder case was filed on the complaint of Bibi’s brother Muhammad Asif.

According to the police, Abid Hussain, a waiter at a local restaurant, married Mussarat Bibi less than two months back. Soon after the marriage, differences developed between the couple as Hussain suspected his wife was having an affair.

Sub Inspector (SI) Raja Saeed, the investigation officer, said the killer is still in hospital but is not critical. “Abid will be arrested after the doctors discharge him from hospital,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 15th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Honour killing: Couple who converted to Islam ‘killed by family’</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/454614/honour-killing-couple-who-converted-to-islam-%e2%80%98killed-by-family%e2%80%99</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/454614/honour-killing-couple-who-converted-to-islam-%e2%80%98killed-by-family%e2%80%99#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 21 Oct 12 05:07:04 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=454614</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Former Christians Bilal and Kalsoom tied the knot two months ago.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[A Christian couple, who recently married of their own will and converted to Islam, was gunned down by family members in South Punjab in yet another case of honour killing.


The incident took place in a Christian colony in Kalore Kot, a small town in Bhaker distinct late Thursday night.

According to police sources, Kalsoom Bibi, daughter of Irshad Masih and Muhammad Bilal, son of Ashraf Masih, were killed on the spot after Kalsoom’s brother Imran opened fire on them.

A two-year-old child, Alisha, also received bullet injuries in the firing and was shifted to the Kalor Kot Hospital in a critical condition, the investigation officer (IO) of the case told The Express Tribune.

Bilal and Kalsoom had recently converted to Islam and got married, by choice, two months ago, the IO said.

On Thursday, they were at Bilal’s house when Imran, along with his brother Zahid and father Irshad, barged in and exchanged harsh words with the couple. He then, shot at the couple, killing them instantly.

The three accused ran away from the scene, while shooting in the air, the contents of the First Information Report (FIR) stated.

A case has been registered against Imran, Zahid and Irshad under sections 302, 324 and 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) at the Kalor Kot police station on the complaint of Bilal’s father.

So far no one has been arrested, while further investigations are under way, SHO Afzal Khan said.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 21st, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Taliban order: Cousin kills woman, alleged paramour</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/425984/taliban-order-cousin-kills-woman-alleged-paramour</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/425984/taliban-order-cousin-kills-woman-alleged-paramour#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 25 Aug 12 04:33:51 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=425984</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Khan was ordered to do so by the local Talibans, says political administration official.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Two persons were gunned down over suspected illicit relationship in the Chapar Mushti area of Central Orakzai Agency on Friday.


An official of the political administration Orakzai Agency said that a woman and a man identified as Raj Wali were killed by the woman’s cousin Qayyum Khan for having illicit relations. Khan was ordered to do so by the local Talibans, he added.

The official said that around 11:00 am the accused killed Raj Wali while he was on the way to a market. “After killing him the accused rushed to his house and gunned down his cousin and escaped,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 25th, 2012.]]>
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			</item><item>
			<title>Honour killing: Divorced girl shot dead for ‘bringing bad name’</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/364623/honour-killing-divorced-girl-shot-dead-for-%e2%80%98bringing-bad-name%e2%80%99</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/364623/honour-killing-divorced-girl-shot-dead-for-%e2%80%98bringing-bad-name%e2%80%99#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 14 Apr 12 11:18:15 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[asad.kharal]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Punjab]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=364623</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Cousin shoots 21-year-old girl for 'being the cause of insult for his family'.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[A 21-year-old divorced girl was shot dead by her cousin who alleged that she had a suspicious character, in the locality of Dhoop Sarri in the Sheikhupura district, The Express Tribune has learnt.

The deceased girl, Mehwish, had married Imran, a resident of Bhikhi, but Imran divorced her some time ago claiming that she had a suspicious character, said Investigation Officer (IO) Nawaz Bhatti.

Police said that Karamat, cousin of the deceased, entered the house of the girl’s late father and opened fire on her after exchanging some harsh words with her and telling her that she was the cause of insult for his family.

An FIR was registered at Police Station Housing Colony on the complaint of Kausar Bibi, mother of the deceased, against Karamat on the charge of section 302 of Pakistan Penal Code, said Station House Officer (SHO) Inspector Zahid Khan.

The girl was buried after an autopsy was conducted at the District Headquarter Hospital’s postmortem house, but no arrest has been made yet, the police officials stated.

The SHO and the IO claimed that various raids have been conducted in different places but all in vain, however they claimed that the accused will be arrested shortly and all possible measures have been adopted in this regard.]]>
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			<title>Nearly 1,000 Pakistan women 'killed for honour'</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/353572/nearly-1000-pakistan-women-killed-for-honour</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/353572/nearly-1000-pakistan-women-killed-for-honour#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 22 Mar 12 08:15:30 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[afp]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=353572</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The statistics highlight the growing scale of violence suffered by many women in Pakistan.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[At least 943 Pakistani women and girls were murdered last year for allegedly defaming their family's honour, the country's leading human rights group said Thursday.

The statistics highlight the growing scale of violence suffered by many women in Pakistan.

Despite progress on better protecting women's rights, activists say the government needs to do more to prosecute murderers in cases largely dismissed by police as private, family affairs.

"At least 943 women were killed in the name of honour, of which 93 were minors," wrote the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in its annual report.

Seven Christian and two Hindu women were among the victims, it said.

The Commission reported 791 "honour killings" in 2010.

Around 595 of the women killed in 2011 were accused of having "illicit relations" and 219 of marrying without permission.

Some victims were raped or gang raped before being killed, the Commission said. Most of the women were killed by their brothers and husbands.

Only 20 of 943 killed were reported to have been provided medical aid before they died, the Commission wrote.

Despite the rising number of reported killings, activists have praised parliament for passing laws aimed at strengthening women's protection against abuses.

Rights groups say the government should do more to ensure that women subjected to violence, harassment and discrimination have effective access to justice.

Last year, a Belgian court sentenced four members of a Pakistani family to prison for the murder of their daughter, who defied them by living with a Belgian man and refused an arranged marriage.]]>
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			<title>Honour killing: 19-year-old shot dead in Rahim Yar Khan</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/352082/honour-killing-19-year-old-shot-dead-in-rahim-yar-khan</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/352082/honour-killing-19-year-old-shot-dead-in-rahim-yar-khan#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 19 Mar 12 11:36:42 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Punjab]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=352082</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[On suspicion of having an illicit affair, father shoots daughter dead with son's help.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[A 19-year-old girl from Rahim Yar Khan lost her life in ‘the name of honour’ on Monday, reported Express News.

Ameen, a resident of the Ahsanpur area of Rahim Yar Khan, was suspicious of his daughter having an “illicit relationship” with a young man called Shakir. The suspicion led him to shoot his daughter Maqsood Bibi dead, with the help of his son Fida Hussain.

The Abadpur Police Station registered an FIR against Ameen after the victim’s uncle Khair Muhammad filed a report with the police.

The police took the girl’s body into custody and sent it for a post mortem.]]>
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			<title>Rule of law: Five arrested over honour-related killings</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/334692/rule-of-law-five-arrested-over-honour-related-killings</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/334692/rule-of-law-five-arrested-over-honour-related-killings#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 10 Feb 12 23:20:30 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=334692</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Aamir and Mubasher admit to killing their two sisters and a man ‘for bringing bad name to the family’.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Five men have been arrested in two incidents of so-called honour crime in Faisalabad and Rahim Yar Khan.


In Faisalabad, Aamir Asghar and Mubassher were arrested by Sargodha Road police on Friday for killing their two sisters and a man their mother had adopted as a son at their house in Mohalla Naseerabad.

The suspects were produced before the media at a press conference after a court remanded them into police custody for a week.

Aamir Asghar, an employee of an intelligence agency, and Mubasher , a rickshaw driver, said they had killed Rehmana, 22, and Umme Kalsoom, 20 and Shaukat Ali, 24, on Wednesday night. The parents of the suspects, Asghar Ali and Jameela Bibi, were away at work at the time.

“I had warned my sisters several times to stay away from Shaukat but they refused to mend their ways,” Aamir said, “We had become a laughing stock in the neighbourhood.”

SSP (Operations) Sadiq Dogar said police had recovered the murder weapon. He  also announced cash rewards for the team that arrested the suspects.

Killed for marrying without permission.

In Rahim Yar Khan, Maqbool Ahmed, a resident of Chak 46 NP, admitted to killing his 21-year-old daughter, Farzana, for marrying a neighbour without his permission.

Ahmed and his two accomplices were arrested by Abadpur police on Wednesday night from a friend’s house. The police had earlier recovered the body of the deceased in a raid at Ahmed’s house after Saeed Ahmed, husband of the deceased, approached them with a kidnapping complaint against his father-in-law. The complaint told The Tribune that Farzana was missing when he returned from work. “I suspected my father-in-law of kidnapping her,” he said. Saeed said he and Farzana had left their houses over a month ago and married in a court. They had recently returned to the village on his father’s advice. “My father called me and said he was not opposed to our marriage. He also assured me that he would go to Maqbool and request him to bless the marriage,” he said.

He said he had requested the police to provide protection to him and his wife but no action was taken in this regard.

The body of the deceased has been handed over to her mother after an autopsy at Shaikh Zayed Hospital.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 11th, 2012.]]>
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			<title>Insult and honour: Tribal predators hunting down newlyweds in Karachi</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/330599/insult-and-honour-tribal-predators-hunting-down-newlyweds-in-karachi</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/330599/insult-and-honour-tribal-predators-hunting-down-newlyweds-in-karachi#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 02 Feb 12 06:35:47 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=330599</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[On the run from the axe or bullet, young people beseech courts for protection against ‘karo kari’ killings.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Back home, Z and N saw their siblings dragged outside, shot in broad daylight, and buried at night without a funeral—so that their family could continue to live with ‘honour’ in the village and amid the clan.


Now in Karachi, the couple hides in a one-room house in a wholly unfamiliar neighbourhood. They fear a similar fate.

“My family declared us karo kari just because I married of my own choice,” said 23-year-old Z, bursting into tears. “We have come to Karachi for protection.”

Couples who choose to marry of their own free will and in return are declared untouchables for ‘defaming’ the family name, are leaving their hometowns in rural Sindh to seek refuge in the metropolis. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan states that during the last two months, around five married couples have fled to Karachi from Jacobabad, Larkana and Sukkur. Z who hails from Naudero, and her husband from Shikarpur, are the fifth couple, who came here earlier this month.

Their tale is not a typical love story. They did not fall in love in lush green fields but met only at family gatherings and talked occasionally on the phone. However, the decision to spend their lives together came abruptly when Z’s father decided to marry her to a 60-year-old man in exchange for a hefty amount.

On the night of January 12, Z escaped from home, boarded a bus and got married to N in Sukkur the next morning. “We sent our marriage certificate to our families hoping that they would be happy for us,” N says. “While my family reluctantly accepted, Z’s family called a jirga and declared us karo kari.” They wanted them to be brought back and killed.

Years ago, Z’s pregnant sister met a similar fate after she overslept on her train and missed her stop. The family accused her of running away from home with a lover. On the other hand, N’s brother, who was in the army, was killed only because he liked a girl from another clan.

Thus, for Z and N, the only choice they had was to come to Karachi, and file a petition in the Sindh High Court, seeking protection. But the danger is not over. They do not go outside as the people hunting for them have reached the city.

“It’s not a crime to marry the person we want to. But back home, our elders think women are their property. We can’t do things we want to do. At least in the city, we can breathe freely,” said Z from behind her burqa, perhaps the thinnest protection she has for now.

Taranum Khan of the HRCP says that almost all of such killings, which took place in the city last year, were of couples who had fled their villages. “If people think that they can be safe in Karachi, they are wrong. Their families hunt them down here and kill them,” she said.

According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, in 2011, around eight men and five women were killed in Karachi for these very reasons. In Sindh, 227 people, 136 women, 125 men, and 13 children faced this rough form of tribal justice.

In some respects, it is almost better for the couple to be killed together, for as Aisha (not her real name) discovered, the murder of a loved one strips life of all meaning and joy. Her husband became a victim to tribal compulsions in 2001.

She fell in love with Saif – who his relatives describe as one of the most handsome in the family – and eloped with him in 1998. Saif was axed to death by Aisha’s relative Ghulam Muhammad. His parents died soon after his murder and the family structure collapsed under the financial burden of his case. For his widow, Aisha, there can be no other. “Saif was my husband and first love and now I live for our son.”

The men who kill

So much ink has been spilled on the karo kari killings and their victims. But aside from those who lose their lives, there are the perpetrators of the violence, who become victims in another sense: they have to live with their crime.

Akan Nohrio managed to ‘avenge’ his honour, even though it cost him everything he owned and everyone he loved. The now destitute 65 year old murdered a man called Ali Mohammad Chang and has been in prison for three years for the crime.

A father of 15 children born to two wives, Nohrio now understands the futility of the deep-seated perception of slight to honour. “I did not think about the consequences but it was an unbearable situation at that time,” he told The Express Tribune. “Our women are above everything. We can do anything for them - even [commit] murder.”

Nohrio never disclosed who was the subject of Chang’s affections in his family.

After the karo-kari killing, Nohrio lost his 40 acres of land and the support of his loved ones. “A notable man from our community paid Rs150,000 to Chang’s family [as blood money] but my brothers and other relatives sold my land. The Changs took whatever was in my home soon after the murder,” he added.

None of the women in his family visited him in the three years he has spent in jail. Sameer Mandhro

Published in The Express Tribune, February 2nd, 2012.

Update: An earlier version of this article ran a graphic that has been removed following reader feedback.]]>
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			<title>Aurat Foundation launches study on honour killings</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/316425/aurat-foundation-launches-study-on-honour-killings</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/316425/aurat-foundation-launches-study-on-honour-killings#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 04 Jan 12 12:48:53 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[The study shows many cases highlighted in the media were not reported with police or classified as honour killing.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Women’s rights NGO Aurat Foundation has launched a pilot study on honour killings in Pakistan, which focuses on legislation to counter the trend. 

The study was launched on Wednesday under the foundation’s Legislative Watch Programme for Women Empowerment. Norwegian ambassador to Pakistan Cecilie Landsverk was the chief guest at the ceremony.

Speaking at the ceremony, the foundation’s Chief Operating Officer Naeem Ahmed Mirza stressed on the need to look into the hindrances in implementation of the law against honour killings that was passed in 2004.

Lawyer Maliha Zia, who has authored the report, said that a lack of data from courts, available consolidated data, categorisation of FIRs and reluctance of people to comment on incidences of honour killings are the main hurdles towards the implementation of the law.

The study shows that many cases that were highlighted in the media were not reported with police. In other cases, if they were reported they were not classified as honour killing. “The language used in the FIRs is not gender-sensitive. Courts also usually issue verdicts against the victim by using the provision of grave and sudden provocation,” Zia said.

She said that one of the greatest factors that hinder compliance of the law is the fact that most honour crimes are committed by family members and the ‘unwillingness’ of the family to lose another family member. “Therefore, most cases end up as forced compromises.”

Lastly, Zia said, responsible institutions lack the commitment to implement the law.

Women’s rights activist Tahira Abdullah said that almost 77% of honour killing cases end in acquittal of criminals.]]>
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			<title>In Sukkur, a separate graveyard for the ‘dishonourable’ ones</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/315712/honour-killings-in-sukkur-a-separate-graveyard-for-the-dishonourable-ones</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/315712/honour-killings-in-sukkur-a-separate-graveyard-for-the-dishonourable-ones#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 02 Jan 12 21:54:37 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[sarfaraz.memon]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=315712</guid>
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				<![CDATA[People at the ‘karan jo qabrus­tan’ are buried withou­t last rites and men guard the graves so nobody can visit...]]>
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				<![CDATA[For some of the deceased in Sindh, there are no prayers for a peaceful afterlife and no on comes to put flowers on their graves. Those slain for honour are not spared even in death.


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 claiming they 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 burry 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 marrying without 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).
with additional reporting by Rabia Ali

Published in The Express Tribune, January 3rd, 2012.]]>
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			<title>FAFEN report: 29 honour killing FIRs filed in October 2011</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/315449/fafen-report-29-honour-killing-firs-filed-in-october-2011</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/315449/fafen-report-29-honour-killing-firs-filed-in-october-2011#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 02 Jan 12 14:16:43 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=315449</guid>
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				<![CDATA[Highest number of cases filed in Sindh, followed by Punjab, while two each were reported in KP and Balochistan.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Twenty-nine cases of honour killings were reported across Pakistan in October 2011, according to the Free and Fair Election Network.

In a statement released on Monday, the advocacy group said that the highest number (15) of First Information Reports was registered in Sindh. Six of these FIRs were lodged in Shikarpur, three in Qambar-Shahdadkot, two in Ghotki and one each in Khairpur, Larkana, Naushehro Feroze and Sukkur.

Punjab follows with 10 FIRs, two each in Sahiwal, Lodhran, Sargodha and Faisalabad. One each was registered in Hafizabad and Rahim Yar Khan.

In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, one case each was filed in Peshawar and Swabi district and in Balochistan, one each was lodged in Nasirabad and Jaffarabad districts.

Fafen monitors, who visited district police officers in 73 districts across the country, found that 781 FIRs were lodged for crimes against women. Thirty-three per cent of these were cases of forced marriages, 27% of rape, 24% of sexual assault, 12% of offences related to marriage and four per cent of honour killings.

The highest number of FIRs for forced marriages was lodged in Faisalabad district (42), followed by 40 in Gujranwala and 37 in Sahiwal.

Crimes against women constitute a mere two per cent of the total FIRs registered in the 73 districts of Pakistan that Fafen’s monitors visited in October 2011. The total number of FIRs lodged with district police officers in these areas was 32,021. Of these, 726 were cases of murder, 794 of attempted murder and 1,702 of physical harm an injury.

Other crimes

The highest crime rate for October 2011 was recorded in Faisalabad district, which constituted 11% of the total FIRs filed for the month.

Apart from forced marriages, most FIRs in the district were lodged for murder, attempted murder, injuries, robbery, criminal trespassing, criminal breach of trust, counterfeit currency and bank notes, theft and motor vehicle lifting.

Gujranwala followed at seven per cent and Multan at four per cent.

The report said that crimes pertaining to property were the most frequently reported (17%), followed by those ensuing physical harm (11%), threat and fraud (7%) and crimes against women (4%).

Methodology

Fafen monitors visited 73 offices of district police officers – 25 in Punjab, 20 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 17 in Sindh and 11 in Balochistan – to gather information on FIRs registered for 27 offences falling under the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) in October 2011.]]>
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			<title>Dishonourable murder</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/312792/dishonourable-murder</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/312792/dishonourable-murder#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 27 Dec 11 18:46:05 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[Syed Mohammad Ali .]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=312792</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Combination of legal reforms, effective exercise of authority is needed to help curb violence against women.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Despite some recent progress in terms of trying to address the dismal state of women’s rights in the country, our government clearly needs to do much more in view of the continued prevalence of brutal acts of murder of women being perpetuated in the name of honour. Consider, for instance, the fact that at least 675 Pakistani women and girls were murdered during the first nine months of the current year alone for allegedly defaming their family’s honour.

According to statistics compiled by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), around 450 of the 675 women killed were accused of having ‘illicit relations’ and 129 of marrying without permission. Over 70 victims were under the age of 18. Some victims were raped or gang raped before being killed. At least 19 were killed by their sons, 49 by their fathers and 169 by their husbands. Given that the HRCP reported 791 honour killings in 2010, there has hardly been a discernible decrease during the current year.

Our state’s inability to enforce rule of law enables decisions concerning matters of life and death to be left in the hands of tribesmen and local elders. These extrajudicial arbitration systems use notions like that of honour to preserve the socio-economic status quo, within which women are both suppressed and exploited. Even when cases of brutal acts of honour killings reach the courts, there is lacklustre resolve to prosecute perpetrators. This is because these cases are often weakly formulated and followed up since they are considered matters pertaining to the private sphere of family affairs. It is said that the situation in Pakistan during the early decades of independence was better and the society was less regressive than what it has become today, largely due to legislative measures introduced under the dictatorial regime of the 1980s.

Islam itself does not condone marriage without consent. It gives property rights to women as well as custody of children. In effect, however, women in our country are traded like commodities to settle disputes and their custody rights are denied and used to blackmail them into submission. They are deprived of their rightful property which is taken away from them by other coercive or social pressure tactics.

Some years ago, a senator from Balochistan had the audacity to defend the burial of five Baloch women while they were alive, saying the act was in accordance with Baloch tribal traditions. Conversely, it is encouraging to note that the Sindh Assembly has just unanimously passed a resolution censuring honour killing, or karo-kari, and recommended the federal government to make the offence an unpardonable one under the country’s law. The Acid Control and Acid Crime Prevention Bill has been passed recently, which recommends stringent punishments for those who commit the crime of using acid to harm women.

But legislation is not enough. Police officials should be given training and awareness about new investigation laws regarding violence and discriminatory behaviour against women. A combination of legal reforms and effective exercise of administrative authority are needed to help curb such disturbing phenomenon.

There also needs to be a persistent social movement against gender discrimination and violence. Simultaneously, the lack of economic empowerment and education of women, which makes them vulnerable to varying degrees of exploitation and horrendous acts of violence, should also be addressed if Pakistan is to improve its existing record concerning women’s rights.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 28th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Honour killing: Peshawar High Court orders re-investigation of case</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/311225/honour-killing-peshawar-high-court-orders-re-investigation-of-case</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/311225/honour-killing-peshawar-high-court-orders-re-investigation-of-case#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 24 Dec 11 02:33:27 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[muhammad.sadaqat]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[K-P]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=311225</guid>
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				<![CDATA[The court cancelled a stay order for halting the inquiry and medical exam.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Peshawar High Court (PHC) ordered the Hazara police chief to re-investigate an honour killing case and initiate a departmental inquiry against police officials for covering up the crime on Thursday.


A division bench of the PHC ordered DIG Hazara Dr Muhammad Naeem to submit a report within 30 days.

Rehnaz Bibi, 13, was shot by her cousin in Kakotri, Haripur, on September 11, last year, for asking a boy she was in love with, to marry her without her family’s consent. The boy’s family, reportedly, had sent her back home the same evening with the promise of sending a proposal to her family later.

However, when Rehnaz’s family received the information, her father who was in Karachi in connection with a job, allegedly asked one of his nephews to kill her for disgracing the family. Her cousin, according to Qamar Hayat of Sahara Foundation, a social activist and petitioner in the case, went to Rehnaz’s house and emptied the burst of his Kalashnikov into her, firing 30 bullets at her and killing her on the spot.

She was buried without a from Kakotri, Haripur, postmortem and her family called her death an accident in connivance with the police. They said she was killed when the pistol she was cleaning, went off accidentally. The police sealed the FIR after a brief inquiry, allegedly concealing facts pertaining to her murder in the name of honour, stated the petitioner.

Hayat and other social activists filed an application requesting an inquiry and postmortem of the victim. District and sessions judge Haripur Shaibar Khan ordered the area magistrate Fazal Gul Khan to conduct an inquiry through a medical board last September.

The victim’s parents immediately obtained a stay order from the division bench against the inquiry. The bench comprising Justice Khalid Mahmood and Justice Yahya Afridi has now ordered a re-investigation through an honest and competent DSP after hearing the counsels’ arguments.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 24th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>HRCP’s report on honour killing</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/309875/hrcps-report-on-honour-killing</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/309875/hrcps-report-on-honour-killing#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 21 Dec 11 19:02:41 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=309875</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The report states that 675 women were killed in the name of ‘honour’ between January and September 2011.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The HRCP’s recent report on honour killings in Pakistan indicates that the average woman continues to be victimised by patriarchal, clannish traditions even as legislation is passed to criminalise such abuse. The report states that 675 women were killed in the name of ‘honour’ between January and September 2011. Several aspects of this horrifying trend must be analysed in order to understand its persistence and halt its onslaught. On the one hand we can focus on the judicial system’s loopholes. We can insist that women be given adequate and impartial access to police protection and legal aid, and we can press for perpetrators to be dealt with harshly so as to deter further acts of violence against women.

On the other hand, we can seek to address the widespread cultural biases women face — biases that are often the motivating factor behind honour killings, acid attacks and similar abuse. These biases against women are so pervasive that often women are not considered independent, equal members of society even in Pakistan’s most advanced urban settings. A woman’s fate is tied to her (invariably) male guardian’s fortune throughout her life. Importantly, she is seen as both a reflection and a source of her guardian’s status in society. This ensures that she can be bought, sold, blamed and exonerated at the community’s will, in accordance with whatever her family believes will increase or restore their ‘honour.’ These cultural biases may be the hardest to overcome, but ultimately social awareness is the only way that honour killings will gain widespread public disapproval. It is essential that women be made aware of their right to live free from the tyranny of arbitrary dispensations of justice. It is equally important that women’s participation in public life be enhanced, so that they are valued and viewed as more than easily disposable accessories. In the absence of concerted government efforts to eradicate honour killings, most women have no choice but to submit to whatever punishment their community metes out to them simply because they have nowhere to turn. In the meantime, short-term measures like establishing safe havens for women who choose to flee their homes instead of submitting to sweeping tribal judgments may have a positive impact on the chilling death toll presented to us.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 22nd, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Honour killings: Prosecution suffers from ‘Flawed FIR structure’</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/309594/honour-killings-prosecution-suffers-from-%e2%80%98flawed-fir-structure%e2%80%99</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/309594/honour-killings-prosecution-suffers-from-%e2%80%98flawed-fir-structure%e2%80%99#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 20 Dec 11 19:40:17 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[rabia.mehmood]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=309594</guid>
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				<![CDATA[Study finds that the victim too is often partly blamed to soften stance on the murderer.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The structure of an FIR must be altered, according to a study carried out by the Aurat Foundation on honour killings. The findings of the report titled “Honour killings and compliance of law” were released in Lahore on Tuesday.

The report which used four districts as sample groups – Gujrat (Punjab), Naseerabad (Balochistan), Nowshera (Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa) and Ghotki (Sindh) – focused on the impact of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill 2004, which officially acknowledged the existence of the barbaric practice of honour killings, but was far from addressing the real issue of impunity which encourages the practice.

Sindh High Court Advocate Maliha Zia Lari conducted the study and believed that the "bias towards the investigation of honour killings was not specific to a specific province." According to the compiled data, from 2008 and 2010, the number of cases of violence against women stood at 24,119, out of which 1,636 were reportedly honour killings.

The report analysed the structure of the FIR to gather that the language provided in FIRs lacked gender sensitivity and was generally dismissive towards violence against women. The study also revealed that in all four districts the motives such as “bad character, conversation and friendship with men, running away and wandering outside the house too often” were the most cited and often fairly vague. The report suggested that the police ask more questions during the filing of an FIR.

As per the findings of the report, the Peshawar High Court and Balochistan High Court said they had no cases recorded on honour killings. The Lahore High Court had more data of case laws and vigilant stances against 'ghairat' (honour) as an issue but there were many contradictory judgments also, which damaged the cause.

The apex court in Sindh took progressive stance against honour killings but the use of term 'masum-ul-dum' was often used in judgments, this term in effect lays part of the blame on the victim and softens the motive of the murderer.

Justice (Retd) Nasira Javed said "in the end the judgment on honour killings comes down to whether the judge is conservative or progressive, because the investigation has too many loop-holes and the law has lacunas."

The report suggests that there is a need to establish complete coordination between the police and courts in case of honour killings to make sure that the data is available and proper case laws are present to ensure better judgments. It is also suggested the need for capacity enhancing and training of police for documenting honour killings cases.]]>
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			<title>675 'honour killing' victims in Pakistan: HRCP</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/309279/675-honour-killing-victims-in-pakistan-hrcp</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/309279/675-honour-killing-victims-in-pakistan-hrcp#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 20 Dec 11 09:27:36 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[afp]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=309279</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[At least 675 Pakistani women and girls were murdered during the first nine months of the year.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[At least 675 Pakistani women and girls were murdered during the first nine months of the year for allegedly defaming their family's honour, a leading human rights group said Tuesday.

Despite some progress on better protecting women's rights, activists say the government needs to do far more to prosecute murderers in cases largely dismissed by police as private, family affairs.

"A total of 675 women and girls were killed in the name of honour across Pakistan from January to September," a senior official in the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan told AFP.

They included at least 71 victims under the age of 18.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is unauthorised 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.

The Commission reported 791 honour 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 gangraped 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, told AFP 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 the 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 honour killings," he added.]]>
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			<title>Honour killing: Paramedic kills daughter, her ‘boyfriend’</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/308559/honour-killing-paramedic-kills-daughter-her-%e2%80%98boyfriend%e2%80%99</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/308559/honour-killing-paramedic-kills-daughter-her-%e2%80%98boyfriend%e2%80%99#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 19 Dec 11 02:58:05 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[K-P]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=308559</guid>
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				<![CDATA[No party has lodged an FIR so far as it is not permitted in tribal culture, which “demands an eye for an eye”.]]>
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				<![CDATA[A girl and her alleged lover were shot dead in broad daylight in a village in Palas Kohistan Tehsil on Saturday evening. No FIR was registered by the families of either victim, as tribal culture does not permit them to seek justice through the police, rather they opt to take revenge on their own, a police official said. This was the second incident of honour killing in two weeks in the same area, the Palas police and local people said.


Police said that Kamalur Rehman alias Kama, 25, from the Jadoon Khel tribe, allegedly developed a romantic relationship with Bano Bibi, 21, from the Badar Sher tribe.

Bibi’s father Habibur Rehman, a medical technician of Kohistan health department, had arranged for her to marry a relative next month, but when he learnt of Bibi’s relationship with Kama, he shot him in a village shop, killing him on the spot. The angry paramedic than went home, where he shot and killed Bibi.

He was on the run till the last reports came in. Police said that no party has lodged an FIR so far as it is not permitted in tribal culture, which “demands an eye for an eye”. However the police have started their own investigation.

About two weeks back, a married woman and a man from the Walikhel tribe were gunned down in the jurisdiction of Palas Police Station. No FIR was registered in that case either.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 19th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Discussion: There is no honour in honour killing</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/306874/discussion-there-is-no-honour-in-honour-killing</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/306874/discussion-there-is-no-honour-in-honour-killing#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 15 Dec 11 02:52:31 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=306874</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The discussion was organised at Quaid-i-Azam University by ActionAid Pakistan and Ideas for Life Trust.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Participants of a panel discussion in Islamabad on Wednesday condemned the practice of honour killing prevalent across Pakistan, particularly Sindh and Balochistan, said a press release issued by ActionAid.


The discussion, “There is no honour in honour killing”, was organised at Quaid-i-Azam University by ActionAid Pakistan and Ideas for Life Trust. Dr Hans Fray (a social scientist), Balqees Tahir, Chief Executive of Sharakat Jahan Ara Moeen (social activist), Samar Minallah (gender expert) and Rukhsana Shama (ActionAid) were among the panellists.

A documentary film on honour killing made by ActionAid was also presented. The film captured real images from field area and sparked a heated discussion on the issue. Students from different parts of country took keen interest in the discussion and presented their research studies on the issue.

Dr Hans said that situation in Pakistan during the early decades of her independence was better and the society was progressive enough to shun such practices. But, he said, it got worsened with introduction of a lot of “isms” later during dictatorial regime of 80s. However he noted that regressive elements are once again on retreat as there are persistent movements against gender discrimination and honour killings.

Balqis Tahira said that education is the only solution to the practice. She said that most cases of honour killings occur in rural areas where tribal laws and traditions are preferred over the law of the country. Lack of education among women makes them more vulnerable to victimisation.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 15th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Belgian honour killing: Pakistani family sentenced to prison</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/305893/belgiums-first-honour-killing-trial-ends-sends-family-to-prison</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/305893/belgiums-first-honour-killing-trial-ends-sends-family-to-prison#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 12 Dec 11 21:49:32 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[afp]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=305893</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Sadia was shot at the age of 20 for refusing arranged marriage.]]>
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				<![CDATA[A Belgian court sentenced on Monday four members of a Pakistani family to prison for the “honour killing” of their law-student daughter and sister, the Belgian media reported.

After pronouncing the family members guilty for shooting to death Sadia Sheikh in October 2007, the jury sentenced father Tarik Mahmood Sheikh to 25 years behind bars, mother Zahida Parveen Sariya to 20 years, brother Mudusar to 15 and sister Sariya to five years.

Lawyers for the family said Sadia’s brother, Mudassir, who confessed to pulling the trigger on the three bullets that killed his sister, was handed a lesser jail term than his parents as they were considered to have ordered the girl’s death.

Prosecutors had asked for a life sentence for all three and between 20 and 30 years behind bars for Sariya.

Sadia, who defied the family by living with a Belgian and refusing an arranged marriage, was shot dead at the age of 20 on October 22, 2007.

Mudassir admitted before the jury of five women and seven men to killing his sister while saying the rest of the family were not to blame.

Her parents and sister stood accused of aiding and abetting the killing which took place when the student visited her family in the hopes of patching up their quarrel.

Questioned during Belgium’s first “honour killing” trial in south-western Mons, Mudassir said the killing was premeditated “for a long time”.

The trial also involved rights groups pleading for gender equality as part of a civil suit at the hearings.

The father, mother and sister, also facing charges of “attempting to arrange a marriage”, denied involvement in the murder, saying Mudassir killed his sister in a fit of rage.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 13th, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Honour killing: Man kills sister over suspicion</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/301722/honour-killing-man-kills-sister-over-suspicion</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/301722/honour-killing-man-kills-sister-over-suspicion#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 03 Dec 11 15:13:04 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[express]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Balochistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=301722</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The accused managed to escape from the scene after committing the crime.]]>
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				<![CDATA[A man gunned down his sister and another man, on suspicion of illicit relations between the two, in the Usta Mohammad area of Jaffarabad, police said on Saturday.

According to the police, the accused Imtiaz Ahmed killed his sister and another man identified as Raja.

Police rushed to the spot and shifted the bodies to a local hospital for autopsy.

The accused managed to escape from the scene after committing the crime. The dead bodies were handed over to the relatives for burial.

A case has been registered and an investigation is underway. Police have also launched a manhunt in the area.]]>
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			<title>‘Honour killing’: Pakistani family stands trial in Belgium</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/295693/%e2%80%98honour-killing%e2%80%99-pakistani-family-stands-trial-in-belgium</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/295693/%e2%80%98honour-killing%e2%80%99-pakistani-family-stands-trial-in-belgium#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 22 Nov 11 04:13:52 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[afp]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=295693</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Brother of victim also confesses to attempted murder of other sister.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Belgium’s first “honour killing” trial opened on a note of high drama on Monday when a young Pakistani man suddenly confessed to the murder of one sister and the attempted murder of another.


Mudusar Sheikh, 27, is standing trial along with his parents and younger sister for the murder of his sister, Sadia Sheikh.

The law student, who defied the family by living with a Belgian and refusing an arranged marriage, was shot dead by three bullets allegedly fired by Mudusar on October 22, 2007.

Her parents and sister are accused of aiding and abetting the killing which took place when the student visited her family in the hopes of patching up their quarrel.

Mudusar has admitted to killing his sister while saying the rest of the family was not to blame.

Questioned by the presiding judge at the jury trial, he surprised his own lawyer by suddenly confessing to the attempted murder of his second sister, Sariya, now 22 and on trial herself in the case.

“I am confronted by two acts, one that succeeded -- that eradicated a person, Sadia -- and one that failed, on my sister Sariya,” who was wounded by a bullet to the arm in the 2007 shooting.

“I want to tell my family this,” he went on. “I wanted to kill Sariya. I don’t dare look you in the eye.”

“I left you for dead,” he added to his sister beside him in the dock as his parents broke into tears.

The accused said he would have “a lot of things to explain” during the high-profile trial, expected to last three to four weeks.

The family of four face sentences of life imprisonment if found guilty by a jury of five women and seven men at a trial also involving rights groups pleading for gender equality as part of a civil suit at the hearings.

Sadia Sheikh left the family home to study after her parents tried to arrange a marriage with a cousin living in Pakistan she had never met.

Before moving in with a Belgian man her age named Jean, she was helped by fellow-students and teachers and also spent some time in a centre for victims of domestic violence, where she drew up a will as she felt threatened.

She had nonetheless agreed to visit the family in hopes of making peace the day she was shot.

Her father Tarik Mahmood Sheikh, 61, mother Zahida Parveen Sariya, 59, and sister Sariya, also facing charges of “attempting to arrange a marriage,” have denied involvement in the murder, saying Mudusar killed his sister in a fit of rage.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 22nd, 2011.]]>
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			<title>Pakistani family stand trial for 'honour killing'</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/295260/pakistani-family-stand-trial-for-honour-killing</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/295260/pakistani-family-stand-trial-for-honour-killing#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 21 Nov 11 13:20:28 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[afp]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=295260</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[A Pakistani family of four went on trial for the &quot;honour killing&quot; of their 20-year-old child and sister.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[A Pakistani family of four went on trial Monday for the "honour killing" of their 20-year-old child and sister, who defied them by living with a Belgian and refusing an arranged marriage.

Sadia Sheikh, a Belgian law student of Pakistani origin, was shot dead by three bullets allegedly fired by her older brother Mudusar on October 22, 2007, when visiting her family in the hopes of patching up their quarrel.

Her parents and sister are accused of aiding and abetting the killing.

The four face sentences of life imprisonment if found guilty by a jury of five women and seven men at a high-profile trial also involving rights groups pleading for gender equality as part of a civil suit at the hearings.

The trial is expected to last three to four weeks.

Sadia Sheikh left the family home to study after her shopkeeper parents tried to arrange a marriage with a cousin living in Pakistan she had never met.

Before moving in with a Belgian man her age named Jean, she was helped by fellow-students and teachers and also spent some time in a centre for victims of domestic violence, where she drew up a will as she felt threatened.

She had nonetheless agreed to visit the family in hopes of making peace the day she was shot.

Her father Tarik Mahmood Sheikh, 61, mother Zahida Parveen Sariya, 59, and sister Sariya, 22, also facing charges of "attempting to arrange a marriage," have denied involvement in the murder, saying Mudusar, now aged 27, killed his sister in a fit of anger.]]>
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