Man murders cousin, injures sister for 'honour'

Resident was axed to death victim had come to meet his cousin

LAHORE: A man murdered his cousin and critically injured his sister in an attack in yet another apparent ‘honour-motivated’ killing in Lahore on Monday.

Police said Yasir Gulfam, a resident of Ghavindi, was axed to death by Allah Wassaya when the victim had come to meet his cousin at her house in Hadiara. The suspect also attacked his sister with the axe, severely injuring her. The woman has been admitted to a hospital, Cantonment SP Operations Rana Tahir said.



A case (385/16) has been registered against the suspect under Section 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of the deceased’s father, Ghulam Qadir.

Yasir’s brother told the police his family had developed differences with his uncle’s family after his brother’s marriage proposal for the injured woman was turned down.

‘Honour killings’

Two weeks ago, a teenaged student of Matriculation had shot dead her sister for refusing a marriage proposal of her family’s choice in Hadiara.

In May, a mother along with her son burnt alive her daughter for marrying off her choice in Factory Area.

According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, nearly 1,100 women were killed over ‘honour’ by relatives in Pakistan last year alone.

Improved coverage

When asked why killings for honour were on the rise, media campaigns and unending efforts of rights organisations, Punjab Commission on Status of Women Chairperson Fauzia Viqar said the incidents were not on rise but their reporting had improved.

“No one dared to report these cases in the past. Police and other institutions also did not take interest in them,” she said.



Zakria Zakar, a professor of sociology and criminology at Punjab University, said the issue was rooted in the patriarchal mindset of society that has been prevalent for centuries. “Our religious scholars and cultural traditions enforce this mindset,” he believed. “First of all, we need to accept women as an independent identity, as written in the Constitution, and not a property,” Zakria said. “Secondly, the society needs to understand honour is not within a woman alone; then comes the legislation bit.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 20^th, 2016.