Kamran Khamiso Khowaja
Over the years the imprecation of honor killing is swallowing precious lives in Sindh. In this society men possessing a radical mindset want to remain dominant in the society and for that, the first thing they do is to restrict women to their habitations and by doing this they gain recognition in this society and this is how a sense of rebelliousness gets developed among those confined women mainly teenage girls. And then that isolated milieu compels those girls to flee from their houses and obtain freedom from that confinement . It has been learned through a study that one woman is killed every day in Sindh in the name of Honor. It is quite unfortunate that many in Sindh do not even view it as a crime rather they call it revenge for trampling their so-called ancestral pride. Karo Kari is a formal term used for honor Killing in Sindh. If a woman is declared Kari ( Accused of treading family,s Honor, and Pride) her family members find themselves authorized to kill her along with the co-accused man (Karo). The study has revealed several causes that lead to the pretext of unabated killings such as elopement, refusal of an arranged marriage, being a victim of sexual assault or rape, seeking a divorce from a hostile husband, committing adultery, alleged illicit relationship and flirting. ther factors that contribute to the genocide are Taking revenge from an old enemy by declaring him Karo, preserving a disputed property, and to discharge prolong dominance in the area. This sort of killing is practiced across the country but statistics show that Sindh is the most affected province. olice reports show that around 769 people including 510 females have been stabbed in the name of honor from 2014 to 2019 while 108 women fell victim to it last year. Because of loopholes in our criminal Justice System, the ratio of these killings is increasing with every passing day. The percentage of conviction in these cases stands merely 2% while on the other hand, the proportion of acquittal is almost 22%, Incomplete and improper investigation at the end of Police make these cases weak right from the inception. That barbarous practice has already played havoc in the northern half of the province and now it is rapidly heading towards the Lower (Larr) Region of Sindh, the region known for its hospitality and amicable environment, the brutal murder of a couple that had tied the knot of free will marriage in Thatta a few months ago is a flagrant example of it. Civil Society and Other organizations that claim to work for implementation of Human rights in the society seem silent over this spewing conundrum. This justice system is in dire need of special legislation to prevent this barbaric practice. -The writer is a Law Student and Columnist based in Sujawal with a special interest in Socio- Political Issues.
