Death – Obituary – Accident and Crime News : A series of tragic deaths of women in northwestern Pakistan have once again brought attention to the issue of honor killings in the country. Each year, hundreds of women and girls are killed in Pakistan, often by their own relatives who claim to be protecting the family’s honor. Despite the implementation of stricter laws and public outrage, human rights groups argue that these killings continue unabated.
In the most recent case, police have charged a man for the murder of his 18-year-old daughter. The killing was allegedly ordered by a tribal council, known as a jirga, after the young woman appeared in a photo on social media with unrelated men. Three others, including the victim’s uncle and two cousins, have been arrested in connection with the crime.
The victim, identified as Reema Bibi, was shot dead by her father in their family home shortly after the photos surfaced online. Public images of women are considered taboo in deeply conservative rural areas of Pakistan, and the police claim that the photos of Bibi were manipulated. One of the men in the photos and the other woman are currently under police protection, while the whereabouts of the second man remain unknown.
Unfortunately, this case is not an isolated incident. Just a day before Bibi’s murder, four people were killed in another honor killing incident in the district of Dera Ismail Khan. A man killed his wife following a marital dispute, and in retaliation, the victim’s brother killed the husband’s parents and young sister on the same day. These incidents serve as a harrowing reminder that violence against women remains deeply ingrained in Pakistani society.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has documented at least 384 cases of honor killings in 2022 alone, with 103 of them occurring in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. While the government introduced stricter laws in 2016 to address this issue, rights groups argue that they have failed to effectively curb the number of killings. Amnesty International has called for the authorities to intensify pressure on tribal councils, which often prescribe these horrific crimes, and to end the impunity for violence against women.
In high-profile cases, such as the 2011 incident in Kolai-Palas and the murder of social media star Qandeel Baloch in 2016, justice has been elusive. The Pakistani authorities must take stronger action to dismantle the power of jirgas and tribal councils, which perpetuate patriarchal violence and allow murderers to escape punishment through reconciliation or blood money.
While Pakistan has made some progress in addressing honor killings, there is still a long way to go to ensure the safety and rights of women in the country. It is vital that the government and society as a whole continue to work towards eradicating this deeply entrenched form of violence and discrimination.