Honour Killing; A Gross Violation of Law

Irfan Ali Soomro
The world witnesses this heinous crime that it has been widely reported in different countries. But unfortunately, The Islamic Republic of Pakistan is one of them. In Pakistan Honour killings are locally conceived as Karo-Kari (Siyah Kari) or pretext of ghairat (Honour). This is the murder of family member by another family member. An ‘honour killing’ is the killing usually of a woman much more rarely man. Offenders believe that the victim has created dishonour upon family or community and their mind set is that the death of victim will restore the reputation and honour of the family. In their societies believed that women are to dishonour their families through sexual behavior or having extra marital affairs. There are many causes of honour killing but some need to be mention here, as denial of an arrange marriage their wish to marry outside the caste, not to follow the dress code given by the community, desire of the divorce from an abusive husband, adultery, and false accusation of Zina by husband. These causes which lead women into death by their male genders sometime women are too involved in killing. The UN has estimated in 2000 that five thousand women who lose their lives annually in the name of Honour around the world. It is immensely abhorrent to see that 1/5th of total honour killing in world occur in Pakistan. Moreover, a report by Human rights commission of Pakistan (HRCP) reveals that in Pakistan 2015 alone, nearly 1100 women were killed in Pakistan by their family members and relatives for dishonouring families and allegedly violating cultural values on love marriages. In Pakistan, many cases of honour killings prevailed in past. As, In July 2016 a Pakistani social media celebrity Qandeel Baloch was murdered by her brother in the pretext of honour in Multan which is in province of Punjab. That was only her fault that she had posted controversial pictures of herself on social media, her brothers had asked to stop. The state was complainant in Qandeel’s murder case, state had made impossible possibilities for her family to pardon her killers. Her brother Waseem was arrested on the charges of murder. He confessed that he has murdered her sister and said Qandeel was creating dishonour to our family. Afterall, court sentenced him to life imprisonment in September 2019 after three years of her murder. In June 2020 a woman allegedly murdered in district Jamshoro province of Sindh in tradition of karo-Kari other six similar cases were reported from commencement of July 2020 from Sukkur, Jacobabad, Naushahro Feroz, and Dad Leghari Regions of Sindh. From January 2019 to June 2020 the official figure of Karo-Kari murder was 78 cases. In Punjab, according to official website of Punjab police 434 cases of honour killings were reported from 2019 to 2020. In Baluchistan the Aurat Foundation Non-Governmental organization has estimated in 2018 that honour killings are rising in Baluchistan where 50 cases were reported. There were many such cases, but media didn’t report them only we have seen on social media. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) 448 cases were reported in last six years. The honour killing is never mentioned in Quran, Sunnah or in religious authorities we live in Islamic state we must follow Islamic codes. These kinds of killings are prohibited in Islam and Pakistani legal system also prohibit this. For Muslim the Holy Quran is the word of the Almighty Allah, killing a person is abhorrent and grave sin. Offenders who profess to be a muslin but did not follow the methodology commanded by Almighty Allah and the law of Pakistan to resolve suspicions about their family members who are victim of the honour killing. We are Muslim should follow the Islamic codes, also our Pakistani laws don’t allow tokill someone in the name of honour, after amendment in criminal law Sub Section 299(ee) was added Fasad-fil- Arz, it includes offences, committed in the name or on the pretext of ‘honour’. The punishment of this heinous crime is prescribed in Pakistan Penal Code 1860, Section 302 of the said act, says (a) whoever commits qatl-e-amd shall be punished with death as qisas, (b) punished with death for imprisonment for life as tazir according to the facts and circumstances of the case, if the validation of the section 304 is not available or; (c) Punished with life imprisonment, this clause covers the cases where qisas not applicable. Landmark judgment of Supreme court of Pakistan in the case, Muhammad Abbas versus The State where the Appellate court has ruled that the punishment prescribed in section 302(C) could not be awarded in afore-mentioned cases. The court has recommended to parliament for constituting legislation to stop such killings, by ensuring that offenders don’t get the advantage of section 302(C), which doesn’t clearly tell minimum punishment for murder.It’s the violation of law to kill someone on the pretext of ghairat (honour). To me, it’s difficult to translate ghairat into English as honour, killing is never honourable. The concept of Quran of the justice begins with creation of world.