'Honour Killings' in Pakistan and Compliance of ... - Aurat Foundation

There is no mandatory minimum sentence for ‘honour killings’
irrespective of the relation of the perpetrator to the victim 39 .
There are also concerns as to the difference in the penalties for the
same crime: death or life imprisonment (if there is no
compromise) as mandatory punishments; no penalty or 10-14
years (if qisas is waived or compounded) at the discretion of the
court; acquittal or any amount of tazir (if the tazir is waived or
compounded) at the discretion of the court. [Amendments to
Sections 302, 311, 338E PPC].
There is no liability to ensure that others who are usually involved
in, encourage or validate such killings, e.g. jirgas, panchayats,
family members/elders etc.), and are thus primarily responsible
for perpetuating these practices, become equally liable to penalty
under the law.
While it is positive that the issue of giving a woman in marriage
of otherwise as badl-i-sulah has been specifically forbidden, this
also needs to be accompanied with a penalty for all offenders.
[Amendment to Section 310 PPC].
There is no provision in the Act to ensure that when courts allow
compounding of offences, they must first satisfy themselves that
the offence is not an ‘honour’ crime. It must be remembered that
if stronger penalties for such crimes are incorporated in the law,
the offenders might well choose not to mention honour as a
motive for the crime. Therefore, it becomes important for courts
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