An honor killing can be described as murdering someone, particularly a family member, in the name of honor. Women are the majority of victims of honor killing in Pakistan. Men are also killed, but these cases are rare. There is a considerable number of girls in Pakistan who choked, poisoned, slaughtered, hanged, burned on the name of so-called honor. The family abandoned because they brought shame and trampled the family honor. It is considered necessary to preserve family honor and respect. Both national and international activists are working to stop this, but there is also a public need to denounce it.
A term Karo Kari is used in various regions of Pakistan to punish individuals who are suspected or proven to be involved in sexual intercourse or some immoral behavior beyond marriage, coined as Zina in Islam. And there must be punished for that sin according to the teachings of Islam. But honor killing in Pakistan has crossed limits. There are much honor killing cases in which a man, especially a woman, is penalized to death for no reason raising their voices for their rights. Newspapers are filled with such news. It is a disaster.
In Pakistani society, there is an environment, when the so-called Ghairat is awakened, people consider honor killing their duty to root out evil things from the family. It runs through rural areas of Punjab and Sindh. And we have seen that family members or relatives murdered the individuals on the following reasons:
I. Killing a couple for their love marriage
Many cases are seen mainly in a middle-class family or below, the couple’s relatives have assassinated them for their marriage of choice. Is this a sin? Does Islam not allow us to marry a favorite? Is it rebellious? Definitely, a conscious person will understand that it is not a crime or sin. Neither is restricted in Islam to marry a person you like. And other people have no right to dictate. Still, there are many cases when couples are choked, burned, or assassinated just because the name of love was imprinted on their marriage.
On 19 August 2019, it was reported that a couple was invited to relatives to their house. Upon arriving, both of them shot dead. Is there any logic to kill them?
Another teenage couple was poisoned in Sawat. Although they were not married, their fault was that both were cousins, and they took a selfie together in a family function. Two school-going teenagers killed just because of a selfie. Was it right to make their lives? Is taking a selfie together or by chance you come in the same picture together because it is a family function wrong or immoral thing? Why is our thinking so small, and we see everything wrong? We are accountable before Allah for killing innocent people.
II. Honor killing of women for their divorce
It was reported in Faisalabad that maternal relatives killed a woman because she divorced her husband, who was also her first cousin. Her maternal family does not want her to divorce. Twenty-six years old woman also wanted to marry a person of her choice after divorce. It paved the way for her murder because she brought shame to the family and lead other people in family and relatives astray. So it became necessary to kill her so that others can learn from it and no one will try to take such courage in the future. No actions were taken against the murderers.
There is also another case in which a woman was shot dead in her lawyer’s office because she wanted to file a divorce or Khula case against her abusive husband. Later, it was found that her uncle was involved in the murder attack. He was arrested but soon was released.
III. Karo Kari punishment for Zina or rape
Zina is a sensitive issue, and we are not against retribution for this crime. Zina is described as the sexual intercourse between two unmarried individuals. But at the same time, it is classified as Zina al Jabr and Zina al Raza.
Zina al Jabr is that if a man is overpowered to women and forced her for sexual intercourse. In that case, a woman is a victim of man. The man is a culprit and deserves a punishment.
Zina al Raza is described when both unmarried persons are agreed on for crime. And Islam suggests some punishments for pledging unlawful sexual intercourse, whether he is a man or woman. For sanctions, there must be evidence, or culprits must admit the crime.
While on the contrary, in Pakistan, only women are punished for Zina. And no one even bothers to ask her, whether she was raped forcefully. And if people came to know that she was raped forcibly, Zina al Jabr, they use to yell at her. Women are always crooked that she wished men. I shall explain it with an incident. We heard about a case of honor killing, and it was a pity that a mentally disabled woman was raped locally by some officials. The tribe, where she belonged to slaughter her in a Jirga in front of many people, no step was taken against those men who forcefully attempt rape on the mentally disabled woman. Do we have some fear of Allah? How did they punish a victim?
Factors that are responsible for an honor killing
There are many factors that lead to honor killing. In Pakistan, we live in a dominant male society. So, it is not an obvious thing to dominate women in the household or other items. Women in Pakistan are financially dependant on the male family member, and she is treated as property, especially in tribal and rural areas. Jirga system in those areas also encourages shame killing, Karo Kari, or honor killing. They do not check facts and search for it. If anyone is suspicious lightly, they will immediately convict a person. Another factor is the low literacy rate of girls (25% only) in Pakistan. If a girl does not attend school, how can she get the knowledge about her rights? And understanding what is wrong and what is right. So, from above all discussion, we came to know about four factors:
- Male dominance in society
- Financially dependence of women on men
- Fail of Jirga system to check and search about facts
- Lack of education in girls
Government’s Role
The Pakistani government has introduced many reforms to protect women against violence or honor killing. These laws are:
- Protection of women act 2006
- Criminal law act 2011 & 2016
- Punjab protection of women against violence in 2016
But the government has failed to stop this practice or could not even reduce it. The main reason for this is the loopholes in-laws. Firstly, police do not arrest a culprit because they are under pressure. If it happens, the killer gives some money for compensation and set freed. Pakistan needs to improve laws on Qisas and its conditions.
Human Right Activists and NGOs
An NGO The Pakistani Women’s Rights Organization is working with international organizations to block the door of honor killing in Pakistan. A body of the Council of Islamic Ideology has declared this shameful act of killing un-Islamic. Other activists are Sharmeen Ubaid, Aitezaz Ahsan, Hina Jillani, Gulalai Ismail, Ayaz Latif Palejo, and Tahira Abdullah.
What can we do as a society?
Other than government, NGOs, and social activists, individuals in society also need to work to end it. The government alone can not do anything. We need to educate our children about it and make them know about wrong and bad things, and We also need to stop those factors which are responsible for that. At last but not least, we should know about human rights and its violation.