Honor Killing in Pakistan

Honor Killing in Pakistan

Honor killing is the most horrific infringement of human rights violations. This issue has always been suppressed and the media, the human welfare organizations, the government have, even up till now, undeniably failed to acknowledge and counter the problem. Women, especially young girls, all around the world have been subjected to these debilitating human right abuses. Women who dishonor their families because of sexual indiscretions, inappropriate dressing in public or simply because they don't surrender to their family's wishes are forced to pay a terrible price at the hands of male family members leading to the instigation of honor killing. These honor dominant transgression result in corporal punishment ranging from attempted murder, rape, domestic violence, female infanticide, dowry related crimes, acid attacks, female genital mutilation, forced abortions and forced marriages.

The whole notion of family honor and disgrace is tremendously significant in most communities of the Muslim world but it's not that the women from other religion or faith groups are pardoned from such heinous crime. Penalties have to be paid; more on the right to live is snatched away. Clearly, the prevailing perception which demoralizes women is not alone by socio-cultural factors but there are various justified but distorted interpretations of what's right and what's wrong.

As aforementioned ,the reason which leads to honor killing, below are few clippings and detailed media reports which correlates events and factors which resulted in the women becoming a sacrificial lamb. Every day women, be it young girls or aged, suffer from the dire consequences at the sake of honor. No steady parameters are stated nor is any area predetermined for such act. It's based solely on people, especially fathers, brothers and husband who apparently victimize the women in their family and their idiotic perception which clearly signifies how they still are living in the age of ignorance.

Recently, notified in the Dawns newspaper a young woman in Sukkur was gunned down allegedly by her husband during her sleep when he suspected his wife cheating on him. Similarly, another woman aged 35 was inhumanly subjected to dog-biting torture when her father-in-law and brother-in-laws accused her of adultery. This lucidly showcases the odious treatment women gets by the hands of their ferocious men.

It's not only Pakistan who still live in the age of ignorance. Everywhere around the globe, women are treated harshly and murdered for involving in such sinful and shameful act. In August 2010, a British couple from Birmingham was murdered in Pakistan after they called off their daughter's marriage. Khalid Mahmud, labor MP for Birmingham Perry Barr was appalled by such lunacy and warned British-Pakistanis to be cautious if they adhered to customs like arranged marriages. "It's terrible in this day and age that a couple should be killed in this way," he said. "But it's important for people here to recognize that they can't arrange marriages in Pakistan against the wishes of their children."

Other cases involve when families prohibits their children to involve in any kind of social relationship. On December 20 2010 in the Telegraph UK, the victim Afshan Azad, aged 22, who played the role of Padma Patil, a classmate of the teenage wizard, Harry Potter in the blockbuster Hollywood films based on the children's books by JK Rowling was branded a prostitute by her father Abdul Azad, 53 and brother, Ashraf, 28. She was assaulted because of her relationship with a young Hindu man. That outraged her family to issue threats to kill her if she didn't end her liaison. Later Afshan fled through her bedroom window. Both men were charged for threatening and her brother was also charged for assault.

Religion itself isn't a factor. Multiculturalism is one of the leading factors. Various ethnic and religious other than Islam also condemn infidelity to such extremities which results in the murder of the guilty. Even in Christianity, people abide to certain loyalty traits. Albeit the fact that it's monotonous for them to have extramarital affairs, proven by the divorce rate statistics.

It not necessarily is unfaithfulness which results in honor killing; marriages between different sects or religion has verified otherwise. Written on Jonathan Turley, a blogging site on December 19 2010 blogger named David Drumm mentioned regarding a Christian bride's family rejected the groom because he was a Muslim. They forced him to accept Christianity and insisted that the weeding to take place in a church. Later, the couple eloped; declining the stipulations, hoping the family would come to acquiesce when presented with a fait accompli. So even the interfaith marriages bring dishonor to a family. But if the bride's parents vented their outrage by murdering the couple, double murder would have disrupted and would definitely have brought more humiliation.

When one talks about degradation, limits are not confined to a list. Having a different sexual orientation can lead to honor killing. Shrouk, born in 1992 in Egypt is a merely a victim of gender discrimination. She claimed asylum in UK in 2007 when she escaped Egypt before her family and herself were persecuted by the society due to her sexuality. "I grew up to hate myself. I learned to be ashamed of who I am. I remember thinking that I would rather die than be gay. I blocked all the feelings I had towards the same sex in order to be loved and accepted by god and my family." If she had stayed, the Egyptian law would have denounced her and blamed her mother for all of it.

Mentality and traditions are two mindsets which aren't easy to change. People who believe that they have the power to manipulate the society and influence them to judge in compliance with their traditions are the most arrogant and obsessive of the type. Whenever honor is at stake, they take actions and avenge, irrespective of whatever the consequences maybe. Along the way, even if they are willing