Man kills sister to ‘save family honour’

30-year-old victim expected to marry on December 20 was shot dead by brother over certain suspicions

A man allegedly shot and killed his sister in the name of honour in Sammundri on Sunday.

Police said the accused had certain suspicions over his sister’s character due to which he, in a fit of rage, murdered her.

Police took the body into their custody and began searching for the fugitive. The victim was supposed to get married on December 20 this year.

According to the police report, the accused Shafqat, the son of Khushi Mohammad, shot his 30-year-old sister Shazia Bibi in her head and face with a 30-bore pistol over a domestic dispute in 223GB suburb village near Tarkhani.

Reportedly, the alleged murderer then fled from the crime scene while flashing the weapon.

Tarkhani police reached the spot and took the body of the victim into their custody and handed it over to her family members after the completion of postmortem and other formalities.

The police filed a case under Section 302TPP on the complaint of Mehboob Alam and started raids to arrest the accused.

As per details available with The Express Tribune, the victim was supposed to get married on December 20 and her brother had shot her dead over certain suspicions.

Cases of murdering woman in the name of honour were not uncommon across the province.

On June 9, a man axed to death his sister for contracting a love marriage in Okara. The deceased woman was living in the provincial capital and she had come to visit her parents.

Reportedly, Saima Bibi, a resident of Baman Zirin village of Ravi got married to a young man named Azam on which her brother Shafqat got upset.

He was unhappy with his sister's marriage. The deceased had been living in Lahore with her husband Azam. During this time she gave birth to two children.

On the day of the incident, Saima Bibi had come to the village from Lahore to visit her parents where her brother Shafqat took the opportunity to kill her with an axe and then fled.

In Lahore alone, at least 83 women have been killed in the name of honour during the current year.

The police have filed charges against the accused in 62 cases after arresting them, while 21 cases were being investigated. According to the police record, 11 cases of murder of women were reported in the city division since January 1, of which 10 have been resolved.

In cantonment division, 28 women were killed and the suspects in 22 cases arrested. Murder of 10 women was reported in the Saddar division, out of which only three accused were charged, while seven cases were under investigation.

In Model Town police division, nine women were killed and accused in eight cases were arrested, while 14 women were killed in Iqbal Town and 10 accused arrested. Nine accused were arrested during investigation of 11 cases of murder of women in Civil Lines area.

On September 4, the Supreme Court observed that the killing of women in the name of honour had never been an honourable practice, urging that the term 'Ghairat' should not be used in such cases.

The apex court declared that the punishment prescribed in Section 302(c) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) could not be given in an honour killing case.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14^th, 2020.