13-year-old killed for ‘honour’ in Upper Kohistan
Rights minister says steps are being taken to curb violence against women. STOCK PHOTO
The remote Kohistan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, infamous for honour crimes with dozens of people being slain on this pretext every year, is once again in the news for this latest incident.
Locals disclosed that the suspect, who had also killed his own wife, declared the double murder as an act of justice. “I had to kill him because he was my thief,” the alleged killer reportedly told inhabitants in his area.
In the local jargon, “thief” is someone who supposedly establishes an illicit relationship with someone else’s wife, which is considered grounds enough for the woman’s husband to kill the involved parties with impunity.
It is pertinent to mention here that if the alleged adulterous affair is discovered by the family members of the male involved in the extra-marital relationship, the matter is kept a secret. However, if the woman implicated in the supposed affair is suspected of infidelity, then her relatives give themselves the licence to kill both parties without being questioned about proof or witnesses.
The ‘honour’ tradition is rooted so strongly in the region that even a family belonging to a much lesser social standing can label an influential man ‘thief’ and proceed with the murders, with members of the stronger family powerless to do anything in such a situation.
Off the record, local people in Jijal believe that the victims of the latest honour crime were innocent, but because of the staunch following of the custom, no one dares to say a word.
If members of the male victim’s family attempt to pursue the case or voice their grievance, they are declared enemies of the ‘injured’ party.
However, despite the harsh outcomes, the last five years have seen voices being raised against such outdated traditions and rituals.
Salahuddin's murder has been strongly condemned on social media, and his father, Mohammad Sher, in an interview with a local Youtube channel, called it an ‘atrocity’.
“My son was only 13; he was not even an adult. How can he have an illicit relationship with a woman?” he said.
Police have registered a First Information Report (FIR) against the student’s alleged murderer, who is absconding.
Honour killings in Kohistan came to international media’s limelight in 2012 when four girls along with two boys were killed in the name of honour, based on a viral video clip in which they were singing together. Afzal Kohistani, the brother of the two slain boys, raised his voice in the media and the issue morphed into a family feud in which 10 people from both sides were killed. In 2019, Afzal Kohistani was also killed in Abbottabad.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 18th, 2022.