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

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eflect the community’s silence on the issue, not allowing for effective reporting Interviews conducted at community level show the conservative nature of the community. The researcher had an opportunity to interview a young man 47 who had murdered his own sister. He was extremely proud of what he had done. He claimed he would have lost all his honour because of her behaviour if he had not acted as he did. He stated that he had been supported in his actions by his immediate and extended family, as well as the neighbours and others. His brother, who was also the brother of the victim, stated his brother was indeed honourable. He noted that all women were responsible for their actions and therefore for their consequences, therefore his sister deserved to die. He also shared that on her death, the entire family celebrated her death with song, dance and firing in the air. When asked whether he knew about the 2004 law and that honour killings were illegal and punishable, he laughed it off, claiming that money can buy you anything, including your freedom, so there was no need to worry when you had money: ‘When you have money, no law applies to you’. His brother also confirmed that the police always take money, so there was no problem. Another family member interjected asking, who had the law really punished until now Local lawyers state that in such cases there is usually a compromise between the families before the case even gets to court. Therefore, there is no fear amongst the people about being punished for the crime. If the worst comes to worst, the perpetrators have to undergo three years imprisonment. 47 Names have been omitted for the sake of privacy 45
Gujrat Gujrat also shows a similar situation as Ghotki. Seemingly, the media has not been as swift at reporting as in some of the other districts. The table also shows a sharp increase in the filing of cases of honour killings in 2010. This raises queries as to why there has been a sudden hike of 10% registrations. All FIRs registered in Gujrat have been taken to court. Up to the time of reporting, only one case had been concluded with a compromise, while the rest were still pending judgment. The police noted that while a number of cases are being registered as honour killings, the reasons for the crime are actually different; but the murderer has more of a chance to be released or receive a mitigated sentence if his claim of ghairat or honour is accepted 48 . Table 4: No. of Honour Killing cases compiled by Aurat Foundation from district Gujrat during Jan-Dec (2008-10) Year 2008 2009 2010 Number of cases Reported in the media. 01 02 05 During an interview the family of a victim revealed they had been subjected to a lot of pressure from the perpetrator and his family. They were threatened and finally were forced to compromise and forgive him without conditions in the court. A relative of the perpetrator noted that the entire family did not support the perpetrator’s actions and in fact felt their honour had been harmed more by his actions than that of his wife. He felt that people were now gossiping and talking about them, whereas they were not doing that before. He also shared that there was no knowledge 48 Interview conducted with S.I. Saghir Hussain Shah, Gujrat 46
Page 2 and 3: A Pilot Study on: ‘Honour Killing
Page 4: Table of Contents Preface 1 Introdu
Page 8 and 9: Preface Elimination of all negative
Page 10 and 11: the nature and extent of its compli
Page 12 and 13: Introduction The Criminal Law (Amen
Page 14: formalised by the State and ‘lega
Page 17 and 18: Gender is one of the organisational
Page 19 and 20: their rights were achieved on paper
Page 21 and 22: elatives), in effect excluding all
Page 24 and 25: 3. “Honour Killings”: their Pre
Page 26 and 27: patrilineage 17 . From this follows
Page 28 and 29: compensation negotiated to end a di
Page 30: divorced or excommunicated, an act
Page 33 and 34: Article 340 of the Jordanian Penal
Page 35 and 36: monitor women’s movements and kil
Page 37 and 38: mitigation, compensation for the he
Page 39 and 40: The discretion of the court to deci
Page 41 and 42: down for such cases. This applies t
Page 43 and 44: to properly determine the issue bef
Page 45 and 46: Table 1: Number & Percentages of Ca
Page 47 and 48: the police stations are not even eq
Page 49 and 50: Findings of the Research The findin
Page 51: When asked about the lack of filing
Page 55 and 56: community. Perhaps this has been on
Page 57 and 58: eporting it will do when registerin
Page 59 and 60: Jillani reiterated Justice Abbasi
Page 61 and 62: death and it was subsequently disco
Page 63 and 64: Lahore High Court The Lahore High C
Page 65 and 66: meditation falling under the defini
Page 67 and 68: for conservative and biased interpr
Page 70 and 71: 6. Perspective of the Community Whi
Page 72 and 73: mindset and existing confining soci
Page 74 and 75: even if cases are brought to them,
Page 76 and 77: Role of the Community It is general
Page 78 and 79: court settlement is preferred. Such
Page 80 and 81: 7. Conclusion and Main Findings It
Page 82 and 83: 6. There are also problems with the
Page 84 and 85: 12. These precedents are not necess
Page 86 and 87: hold through these illegal forms of
Page 88: 24. The police can play a very nega
Page 91: The police system is in dire need o

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

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