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.
COMMENTS (61)
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@paki christian: and where does it say in the quran there is "honor killing"
@cpellbinder: I think you hit the nail on the head!
@Reasoner
Very well said. The couple committed apostacy, hence qulified as wajib-ul qatal. Open and shut case.
@Nitish
All that @ paki christian said is, 'there is no such teaching in the holy bible about “Honor Killing”. this is an individual act and is in no way affiliated with their faith!'; which is perfectly sensible. And start your rant, 'Now go and convert north -east india.We hindus r learning our lesson very well.Islam and christainity both r alien to subcontinent and have no reason to exist there in south asia.'
Why don't you go to north-east and convince them not to get converted.
And by the 'english' is an alien language in the sub continent. Stop using it.
@maryam
A million thanks for a sane voice.
Did anybody notice that the husband's first name was Muhammad, a good Christian name? There is something not right here.
@Usman: Your statement only proves what some think, that SOME who practice it show that Islam is not a peaceful , kind religion. Its an individual choice if u want to be religious or not. You are not God. God loves those who believe and those who dont. We are all of his children, otherwise he would have programmed all of our brains to think we will follow Islam, and he didnt do this, which means he loves all of us. But Im pretty sure he will punish those who do violence and spew hatred, especially those who say they are doing it for him or the prophet because he wouldnt approve of this hatred and violence, being the kind creator he is. People should be able to leave any religion, its their choice and u dont own them. God is judge , youre not, and God wont judge them badly if they do leave Islam because he loves all of his children.
@antanu g: It unfortunately happens more in Islam than it does Christianity, thats why there is more news, we must admit
@Cynical: Sir, not sure if your sarcasm reached the target audience as intended - but it did make me smile, for what it's worth.
@antanu g and
@SSA @John T @Muslim @Kung @Riaz
Bible doesn't approve this. These people are not true Christians. Sounds familiar? Happy!!!
The killing is a shameful act however, the converstion to Islam does not seem to be the main cause of this act, infact their marriage by choice without the consent of the families was the main reason. Youth from Chrisitan community in order to gain sympathies from the muslim community converts and gets married when their families oppose, just to give an impression that becasue of their conversion the familes are against them, the same rule was applied here too. If they wanted to convert to Islam only then where does the issue of marrige come in, isnt it a coincidence that they converted and then got married?
Where is the international Media?
I'm from pakistan or technically, The Islamic Republic of Pakistan. And I can tell you for a fact that this issue has nothing to do with the conversion, even though it might seem like it on the outside. The mentality and perception of people in Pakistan is built on Islamic radical views, whether you are a Muslim or a christian. I have Christian friends in Lahore and other parts of Pakistan. Apart from going to church instead of a mosque, there is nothing different to their thinking than the Muslims. They are even taught islamic studies as a compulsory course all over Pakistani schools. So Yes, the liberals can still use this issue as an islamic issue because the 1% christians have been under the influence of 99% muslims. It's the idea of marriage by choice combined with apostacy. In pakistan, it is legally punishable by death if you are an apostate. This idea has obviously and naturally seeped into the 1% christians as well. Stop bashing liberals. It is still a religion issue, particularly related to Islam.
Honor killing is just flat out wrong. Whether the couple murdered was Hindu, Muslim, Christian, SIkh or atheist is completely irrelevant. As our former home minister Chidambaram rightly said, it is incorrect to even describe these as honour kilings, they should be called dishonour killings because a family killing their own child is the most dishonourable thing possible.
Not sure why this is being made into a liberal issue. I cannot think there would be a single person who calls themselves liberal who would support such gruesome murders.
These killings are unfortunately prevalent in our subcontinent. What is needed is strong laws to deal with them, a prosecution machinery that aggressively prosecutes those involved in honour killing rather than sympathize with them by giving the excuse of tradition and a campaign to change societal attitudes which includes but is not restricted to open condemnation of such acts when they occur by role model (religious, politicial, entertainment etc.).
The couple was 'murtid' according to the killer ..... hence Wajib-ul-Qatal period !
@paki christian: So what you're saying is that it's the Arabic culture that is to blame, not the religions that influence it?
@SSA: Islam defames itself, as does Christianity.
Instead of condemning the murder of any human being (regardless of cause), some strange people are looking for "liberals" to bash. This is beyond ridiculous. Obviously the guy who killed his sister and brother in law ( due to free will marriage or conversion) was not liberal in his thinking. Liberals do not run around forcing their views on who should do what. The rest of you could learn a thing or two.
I wonder from whom did these 1% Pakistani Christians learn honor killing from?
Hmmmmmm......
@antanu g
I am from the town of Gautama from the state of Gautama. You are right, as always.
Liberoon, secularoon, and murtadoons are now in their cocoons.
@antanu g: There is no state named GAUTAMA as mentioned by you in your post above.
Your twisted and silly comments are indication of the truth that you are not an India, what you try to project by using a Hindu name. What do you get by pretending what you are not?
These people should be given exemplary punishment. Intimidation tactics like these will not discourage people from embracing Islam. There should also be treason punishment applicable for Muslims trying to leave Islam. "Allah ki Zameen par Allah ka nizam"
@Rana To get protection from Muslim majority, but muslims didn't care for the new converts.
How would Muslims react if Muslims converted to Christianity of their own will in Pakistan? Is it even allowed?
It's called seeing Muslims do it so much that you end up going silent instead of asking what you really want to. "How do you like it?"
'It proves honor killing is part of pakistani society across the religious boundaries. If the said couple were muslims, they were killed just for conversion even if there marriage was arranged by the family. That also prove that 'Express Tribune' post news fairly and the people who claimed that it is some agent of west are either misguided or themselves poisonous.
@usman why didnt you see hindu killing from that perspective?atleast be honest with urself frnd.... will help u a lot in ir liberal future
@Tahir: Do you have weak eyesight? A number of people with liberal views (including myself) have commented on this issue. It seems you guys have no idea what the word liberal means. It doesn't mean someone who is against Islam, Christianity or any other religion; the word "liberal" merely denotes a person who is against violence and bigotry.
It sounds very strange! Why they had to convert?
@SSA: Actually islam isn't the problem. Religion is.
The irony is they were murdred cause of converstion to islam,now ready for some muslim backlash on christians too. Probably they will burn few churches and kill some too. No diifernence here cause its all religious matter and liberals have nothing to do with it.
@John T: @SSA: This was an individual act. Muslims do this more frequently than Christians.
So many Pakistanis condemning liberals. Liberal is one who listens to all opinions and preached tolerance. What happened to the couple is a criminal act and deserves punishment but it does not take away the moral responsibility from the muslim communities where non-muslims have their places of worship attacked, daughters forcefully converted and life and property in danger.
Imran, the man who actually killed the couple needs to be hanged at once and his brother and father must be tried as accessories to murder. It is clear that they came with the intention of murdering the couple; it was not an spontaneous act and therefore, all three of them need to be punished. It is abundantly clear that the people of Pakistan, whether they be Muslim, Hindu, Christan behave only when they have a sword hanging over their heads.
@Kung: Why are you bashing Western media at this time? The couple weren't killed in a Western country nor is ET a Western newspaper.
As for myself, I've never ever bashed Islam. I've always criticized the typical Pakistani mindset and it is this mindset which was once again on display when the couple were killed. This intolerant mindset permeates people of all faiths living in Pakistan, but Muslims of course are involved more often because they constitute 98% of the population.
Well in Islam, killing coverts is part of law while this is individual act
where r the fake liberals now?
@Riaz: They have been killed for converting to Islam. Why should they convert?? They should have got married without any conversion?
ET again i m appealing ,pl publish my comment.
When something like this happens, so many commenters ask: is this Islam? No it isn't. It isn't Christianity either. Its pure and simple barbarity based on corrupted cultural mores.
Looks that this so called 'Honor' killing is more a by-product of culture than religious extremism...
Such extreme (condemnable) practices are rooted deep in the tribal influenced culture of Pakistan where the powerful have always used such violence to suit their vested interests and confuse it with Islam. And sadly enough our religious fraternity has also never raised any voice against this...
@Muslim, @Antanu g First of all, contrary to what liberal-bashing elements say, The Express Tribune has reported this incident de facto. Secondly, brother of the girl not the boy did the killing apparently enraged on her sister marrying of her own free will. Besides conversion, marriage issue is also involved here. And of course, what a reprehensible act the murderer has committed, exposing that many minority communities are no different in terms of barbaric social norms which have become a hallmark of our country unfortunately.
@paki christian: Now go and convert north -east india.We hindus r learning our lesson very well.Islam and christainity both r alien to subcontinent and have no reason to exist there in south asia.But alas our leaders r busy in appeasing minorities.
No surprise that there is dead silence on the liberals' side today. As we say in Urdu, aaj unhain sanp soong gea hai.
If this was Muslims converting to Christanity and then shot by family you would have seen the comments section full of words like injustice, stoneage behaviour, bigotry, minority rights, Islam and Muslims are this that and the other, pious et al.
Where are these (pseudo) liberals now? Even if they condemn it they will do it in the same way that some Zaid Hamid followers gave done the Malala attack ie. yes this is bad but you should also talk abt the dozens of Christians who suffer at the hands of Muslims. No one would muster the courage to call this bigotry and blame Christianity as they have so often done with Islam.
Their hypocrisy and double standards are the elephant in the room.
Now let's see if the CNN and Fox News can report this incident bearing the headline of: "Christian family kills it's children converted to Islam"
May their innocent, pure souls rest in Peace! Liberals badly exposed. No say today? I knew.
there is no such teaching in the holy bible about "Honor Killing". this is an individual act and is in no way affiliated with their faith!
Let's see the reaction of liberals.
If a Muslim was involved in this the western media would have gone hoarse on it. Truly this is a not an age of information but an age of disinformation. The western media should realise the propaganda they have unleashed against Pakistan is not in their own interest. They can't handle a small country like Afghanistan whose whole population is less than karachi. What will happen if a country of 200 million radicalizes. When people are pushed to corner they loose reasoning and lash out at everyone. This is what happened to Germany after world war one. Lets all pray for a peaceful world where everybody respect each other and live in harmony. Ameen.
Really Sad! May their sweet souls rest in Peace! No comments from the so-called liberals today???????? What do these double standards show?
Now, where are so called liberals and secular fanatics???
Is Honour more important than Blood?