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Tuesday March 19, 2024

More of ‘honour’

By Editorial Board
November 30, 2017
Karachi police have discovered the bodies of a young couple who had been reportedly murdered by their families after eloping and marrying each other. In the Mominabad area of Karachi, Abdul Hadi, 34, had fled with his teenage cousin, Husseni Bibi, 19, after deciding to wed her by their own choice. The orders that the couple be killed were delivered by a ‘jirga’ in the country’s largest city. These two deaths add to the toll of over 1,000 ‘honour’ killings that occur each year in the country. The majority of the victims are female. The orders issued by the ‘jirga’ and followed upon by the family raise growing concern about the parallel extra-judicial system of justice that still exists in Pakistan. A 2011 court ruling had ordered that any ‘jirga’ verdict that meted out death, rape or other brutal punishment to a woman not be permitted and members of any such tribal gatherings punished. However despite this ‘jigras’ continue to operate and not only in remote rural areas but even in a major city like Karachi. In August this year a teenage couple who had married on their own will were electrocuted by the family members of the girl. Other equally horrifying cases continue to surface.
The court has ordered the arrests of all those involved in the dual murder under anti-terrorism laws. So far the father and uncle of Abdul Hadi have been arrested and a search continues for the other seven absconding persons. The outcome of the case will be watched by human rights activists who have repeatedly expressed concern over the failures to bring down the rates of ‘honour’ killings in the country. Indeed, according to some reports the trend appears to be on the rise. However it is possible that more cases are being reported than was previously the norm. The recent spate of such killings in a large city like Karachi has created considerable alarm over the situation for women and also their partners in cases such as the one reported most recently. Police have been ordered to investigate the matter fully and a final outcome could well help determine how ‘honour’ killings are handled by the administrative and legal system in a situation where existing laws are frequently misused to allow the perpetrators to escape without punishment.