FAFEN report: 29 honour killing FIRs filed in October 2011

Highest number of cases filed in Sindh, followed by Punjab, while two each were reported in KP and Balochistan.

ISLAMABAD: 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.