'Honor killings' rise in Pakistan

CNN

Thursday, December 12, 2002 Posted: 6:55 AM EST (1155 GMT)

Protesters call for more women's rights but the situation may not improve soon

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- 'Honor killings' have risen in Pakistan, with 461 women murdered by family members in 2002 for immoral behavior ranging from adultery, being raped or even cooking poorly, the country's main human rights body says.

The figure is up 25 percent on last year's reported total of 372, with at least as many raped as killed in the past twelve months, the private Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said.
Urging for greater protection of women, the commission called on the government to increase its commitment to fight the practice

Most killings are carried out by men to protect their family's honor for so called immoral behavior such as sex outside marriage, talking to or dating men, being a victim of rape and even bad cooking skills, the commission said.

The honor crimes are committed under the belief their actions would defend a family's reputation.
Explaining the high figure, the rights commission's Kamla Hayat told The Associated Press news agency the number may have risen because of an increased willingness to report the crimes as opposition to the practice grows in some regions.

gang rape

The gang-rape of Bibi, pictured with her father, sparked international outrage

Relying mainly on data collected from two provinces, the rights commission said over 300 honor killings took place in Sindh.  In Punjab province, 161 women or girls were killed by relatives. Only 27 killers were arrested in that province.

Data on the rest of Pakistan, including the tribal rural areas, was not available, the commission said, as information is difficult to obtain from such regions.

In June this year, the tribal council-ordered gang rape of a woman in Punjab sparked national and international outrage.

The young woman, Mukhtiar Bibi, was raped as punishment for her brother having sex with a woman from another clan. Six men were convicted of attacking her and sentenced to death.

The gang-rape of Bibi, pictured with her father, sparked international outrage Protesters call for more women's rights but the situation may not improve soon


New laws

But in most honor killings, those guilty are not punished.  "Unfortunately, police in Pakistan either don't arrest such killers or they are not treated as murderers," Hayat told The Associated Press.
Pakistan authorities say they are taking steps to reduce crimes against women and act when they are reported.

"The government has recently made some changes in the laws to give more protection to the women, and it will be unfair to say that the government is quiet on the subject," AP quoted Brig. Javed Iqbal Cheema, Director General of Pakistan's Interior Ministry, as saying.

Among other findings from the commission:

In Punjab, 67 of the slain women were killed by their brothers, 49 by their husbands and the rest executed by other family members, including seven cases where sons killed their mothers. In November in the southern city of Faisalabad, a woman was hacked to death with an ax by close relatives on suspicion she was having "immoral relations" with a man. The man was also killed. During the same month, a widow was killed by her brother on suspicion she was living with a man outside marriage. In both cases, the perpetrators gave themselves up to police and are awaiting trial.