[Dawn] The Human Rights Commission of Pakistain (HRCP) in its annual report 2011 mentioned that at least 943 women were killed in the name of honour. The data is based on media monitoring and field reports from the HRCP volunteers, and the number of victims of honour-related violence could be much higher as such cases often go unreported.
The report made public in early March states that the purported reasons given for this were illicit relations in 595 cases and the demand to marry of their own choice in 219 cases. In 180 cases the murderers were a brother and in 226 cases husband of the victim. Only 20 women killed in the name of honour were reported to have been provided medical aid before they died.
Though changes have been made in the relevant laws, but a lot more is still needed to check this practice. Still a mindset exists in the society which supports this practice on different pretexts. On this issue there is a clear divide in the society, which is also evident from judgments emanating from the superior courts. In some of the cases the courts favoured accused
persons on the ground of "grave and sudden provocation" whereas in other decisions the courts did not accept this ground for an honour-related murder.
In one case reported in 2008, the Lahore High Court ruled that killing over question of family honour on provocation had been accepted as an extenuating ground for grant of lesser punishment. It was added that murder committed on account of "ghairat" (honour) being not equivalent to "qatl-e-amd" (intentional murder) accused was entitled to same concession.
In that case the accused/appellant was convicted by the trial court for killing two of his women family members and was sentenced to death. The high court ruled that conviction of the accused under section 302 (a) of Pakistain Penal Code (PPC) was consequently altered to section 302 (c) and his death sentence was reduced to 20 years rigorous imprisonment.
In another case in 2006 the LHC ruled that family honour killings were to be discouraged, but it did not mean that the benefits of mitigation were not to be given at all to the accused in whose house someone had trespassed and invaded privacy to fulfill his lust. The same year in another judgment the LHC simply ruled that record having established that it was a case
of family honour, award of capital sentence to accused was not justified.
In another verdict the LHC ruled in 2007 that "human life was very sacred, but at the same time prevalent social setup, traditions and customs could not be ignored where men would sacrifice their lives to safeguard the honour of their womenfolk, which was not considered a big sacrifice in any manner." It was added that no religion allowed widespread immorality to destroy the fabric of a family life.
Contrary to these verdicts, the courts in some other cases ruled that honour-related murder could not be termed as mitigating circumstances which warrant lesser punishment to perpetrators. A bench of the Supreme Court ruled in 2004 that "it is correct that in our society, the illicit liaison of a female is not tolerated but mere suspicion of such relations cannot be an excuse to commit murder and claim mitigating circumstances for lesser punishment".
In one of the cases in 2009 the LHC ruled that the murder based on "ghairat", was not a mitigating circumstance for awarding a lesser sentence. It observed that nobody has any right nor can anybody be allowed to take law in own hands to take the life of anybody in the name of "ghairat."
It was observed that neither the law nor religion permits so-called "honour killing" which amounts to murder (qatl-e-amd). "Such inquisitive and vile act is violative of fundamental rights as enshrined in Article 9 of the Constitution, which provides that no person would be deprived of life or liberty except in accordance with law and any custom or usage in that respect is void under Art.9(1) of the Constitution," the court ruled.
Presently, the PPC does not contain any provision which can mitigate the offence of honour-related killing.
Experts believe that all the stakeholders, including the judiciary, civil society and media, have to play their active role in creating awareness of the law so as to check this illegal practice.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2012 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] These days the capital police are busy trying to create a "top quality working environment". As a handout of a meeting held on April 3 reveals, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Bani Amin Khan has directed all station house officers and supervisory officers to repair and construct boundary walls, and provide quality mess and recreational facilities to employees within 15 days.
Furthermore, the handout states that the IGP and the AIG (operations) Tahir Alam Khan will be paying surprise visits to cop shoppes and if any shortages are found then the relevant staff would face "strict" disciplinary action.
However, the way to a man's heart remains through his stomach... it is most ironic and sad that the IGP is laying so much stress on improving the conditions in which coppers work and not the manner in which they conduct business.
As investigations into two recent cases by Dawn reveal, such superficial measures will in no way help the police redeem their image -- corruption and nepotism afflict all ranks and need to be dealt with urgently.
The first case is of Zaraq Khan who has lodged a complaint with the Aabpara police that an official who was investigating the case of his brother's disappearance demanded Rs30,000 through his agent and received part-payment of it.Zaraq Khan's brother Faiz Ali Akbar, a local officer of the German embassy, disappeared on March 22 and his body was found on March 28 in Rawal Dam. This case was highly publicised in the local media as well.
According to the FIR, a copy of which is available with Dawn, Zaraq Khan first filed an FIR on March 23 about his brother's disappearance and the same day Mian Imran was appointed as the investigating officer (IO). Mr Khan met Mian Imran on March 24, and during this meeting he alleges that the IO assured him that he will give him good news and asked him to pay Mushtaq (his agent) Rs30,000.
Mr Khan conceded in his FIR that he paid Rs10,000 and the very next day he was told that his brother's cycle of violence had been found. The same evening, he was also informed by the IO that they had shortlisted some suspects.
On March 26, the IO rounded up three suspects -- a girl, her father and brother -- who admitted that they had caught Faiz in front of their house talking to the girl but had let him go after beating him. Two days later, Faiz's body was found from Rawal Dam.
In his FIR, Mr Khan has explicitly nominated the IO and demanded justice and legal action against him. Following this thought the police swiftly set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock the agent, Mushtaq, recovered Rs9,000 from him and sent him on judicial remand. However, the man who has no enemies isn't anybody and has never done anything... no action has been taken against the IO even though his name appears there.
In a bid to save their colleague's skin, the police are claiming that Mushtaq and Zaraq Khan were natives of the same village and Mushtaq was extorting money from him (Zaraq Khan), and the IO has no relationship with him.
Interestingly, when Dawn contacted the complainant, Zaraq Khan, he first said he did not want to comment on the issue and denied lodging any such complaint. When probed more with reference to the FIR number and his statement recorded as part of it, he simply laughed it off.Meanwhile, ...back at the secret hideout, Scarface Al sneeringly put his proposition to little Nell... in another unrelated case, one suspect got it easy because of alleged contacts within the police. On March 20, the Bhara Kahu police in a raid set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock a couple, both doctors by profession, for their alleged involvement in selling unwanted newborn babies and conducting illegal abortions.
Even though the male doctor was produced in the court of law the very next day and also sent for judicial remand, his wife was neither nominated in the FIR nor produced in the court of law with him. Rather she was produced in the court of law on March 22.
A source within the police informed this news hound that the female doctor was related to a senior officer in the capital police who did not let her name be nominated in the FIR. However, today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday... there was no way to independently verify this allegation.
Even then it's quite obvious that the police need to take a deep look within and revamp rather than going for surface measures that will not improve the quality of the police service.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/10/2012 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
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[Dawn] The Human Rights Commission of Pakistain (HRCP) in its annual report 2011 mentioned that at least 943 women were killed in the name of honour. The data is based on media monitoring and field reports from the HRCP volunteers, and the number of victims of honour-related violence could be much higher as such cases often go unreported.
[Dawn] These days the capital police are busy trying to create a "top quality working environment". As a handout of a meeting held on April 3 reveals, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Bani Amin Khan has directed all station house officers and supervisory officers to repair and construct boundary walls, and provide quality mess and recreational facilities to employees within 15 days.
