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

community. The siblings of the victim, especially the girls, suffer because
people in the community are unwilling to marry girls belonging to the
victim’s family.
In contrast to this, the murderers are treated with respect. Some members
of the community see them as the custodians and protectors of honour.
Society also has a general disrespect for legal institutions because of the
fact that cases taken to court take a long time to get resolved. Usually the
matter is settled out of court, sometimes with prior permission from the
court. The community generally believes that since this is a matter
relating to honour, it would be dishonourable to even bring it out in the
public realm. It remains hidden and is covered up. If there is a dispute, the
parties prefer to deal with it out of court through vaderas, jirgas and
panchayats.
Role of the Police
The police play an important role as the first point of contact. The
ignorance of the police relating to the 2004 law has been referred to
above. This ignorance is extremely problematic because rather than
implementing any of the new procedures or rules laid down in the law,
the police follows its own chosen procedures and methods. As a result,
justice is not always given according to standards set by the law.
The police have its own problems. For example, there is often little or no
evidence available. The police, due to lack of funds, do not always have
recourse to modern methods of investigation, nor the training for such
investigation. Furthermore, often there is collusion between the
perpetrators and victim’s families where false witnesses and false
complainants are brought forward in order to ensure a weak case for the
prosecution; therefore the perpetrators are declared innocent and the case
can never be taken back to court. This is because, as said earlier, an out of
70