Honor Killing in India and Pakistan

Honor killing that is common in the Muslim world takes lives of thousands of people each year. Most of such crimes take place in a family. Victims are mostly women, who have somehow encroached on the Islamic morality. Honor killings occur for a variety of reasons, including the premarital or extramarital sex, an attempt to refuse an arranged marriage or get a divorce, and even a fact of talking to another man. Usually, most instances are classified as accidents, suicides, or results of a family dispute if they are reported at all. The police and government officials often ignore both the crime and required investigation. Despite numerous injuries, woman killed because of beating, burning, strangulation, shot or stab wounds are called suicides. This paper compares and contrasts honor killing in India and Pakistan.

The Prevalence of Honor Killing in India and Pakistan

Two years ago, the world media widely discussed a brutal massacre of a girl in the east of Pakistan, in the city of Lahore. Then, Farzana Iqbal was beaten to death with stones in front of the local courthouse by members of her family for marrying another man while being betrothed to her cousin. In spite of being democratic countries with constitutions that guarantee the right of choice for everyone, both India and Pakistan violate the women’s rights. In such a manner, in Pakistan, the government prefers not to intervene in such conflicts and actively resists any involvement in their solving. In India, in the case of appeal to the police, a rape victim is much more likely to be beaten by officers rather than receive protection and hope for the fair investigation of crimes. The problem of honor killings is not associated with the morality or maintaining the chastity of women; rather, it is an issue of power and misogyny. Women are treated like servants, both physically and symbolically. Honor killings occur in cases where there is rape, adultery, flirting, or anything that disgraces the family’s honor in the eyes of the society. Many women are killed because of mere suspicion, and they do not have even a chance to defend their innocence.

Pakistani human rights activists specify that the true extent of the problem may be much greater since many cases are not reported at all, while others are not recognized by the court. Moreover, the Hindu community in Pakistan is often afraid to testify against the Muslims because of the fear of the persecution by local influential religious groups. On the contrary to Pakistan, Indian families often try to support and protect their daughters. However, during the process, a criminal or his influential friends often harass the family and give false testimony. In the Pakistani and Indian societies, it is a common practice not to ask the girl for her consent to the marriage. In Pakistan, for instance, an extremely common type of marriage is Vanya, under which, a woman is given as compensation in order to stop the vendetta, after the assassination of a member of the opposite clan. Moreover, both in India and Pakistan, members of the husband’s family usually kill a just-married woman because of the conflicts related to the dowry.

Structural Factors that Account for Honor Killing in Pakistan

Honor killing in Pakistan is associated with the problem of the religious and social development. Particularly, this problem in connection with Islam is often seen as a considerable obstacle to the progress and as a strong conservative force. It is known that the main problem of honor killing in Pakistan is connected either directly or indirectly to its religion and traditions. Under conditions of the global and local terrorism, honor killings in this country are supported by the corruption and nepotism, the social passivity of women, and the authoritarian power. Perhaps, the inferior status of females in Islam still allows this barbaric tradition to exist. In spite of the report, “Pakistan: Violence against Women in the Name of Honor,” which was published in 1999, nothing had changed in the position of women in the Pakistani society since then. On the contrary, the number of honor killings has raised; thus, the country has failed to protect women against abuses in the family and community.

The research states that in 2015, hundreds of women fell victims of so-called honor killings in Pakistan. In the annual report, the Pakistani Independent Human Rights Commission reported that out of 913 killed women, 99 belonged to minorities. Furthermore, more than six hundred females were killed for illegal relations with men, and about two hundred gave their lives for having chosen a husband on their own accord, without consulting parents. Karo-kari is the local slang that means a murder committed for the sake of the family honor. Karo means a black woman in the Urdu and Sindhi languages. If a woman receives it, she will not live long. In the family council, all members decide which men will impose justice.

Structural Factors that Account for Honor Killing in India

Women’s killing in the Middle East is an ancient tradition that has begun long before the rise of Islam. Sometimes, Arabs even buried their infant daughters alive in order to avoid any possibility of shame, which these girls could have brought the family in the future. Admittedly, this practice has existed for centuries. It is still practiced by Bedouins, who consider young females the most probable cause of the loss of the family honor. Historically, many women were killed and buried in unmarked graves, and their existence was erased from the memory of the clan. The fact that so many murders remain unknown signifies the low status of females and their role in the Islamic culture. Often, fathers, husbands, brothers, uncles, cousins, and sons become their killers. In communities, older brothers usually encourage youngsters to kill their sisters since consequences for them would be less severe because of their age.

In India, there were cases when a man raped own daughters, and when they became pregnant, killed them for the sake of the family honor. In India, such crimes are no less cruel as the ones in Pakistan. For example, in the village of Mirvala, in Punjab, a tribal court ruled that an eleven-year-old boy by his walk with a thirty-year-old woman dishonored her tribe. Consequently, the boy’s eighteen-year-old sister was gang-raped and then forced to walk naked through the village. There are numerous examples, at which the blood curdles, including burned, stoned, electrocuted, and buried alive victims.

Steps that Have Been Taken to Tackle Honor Killing in Pakistan

In 2016, the Pakistani Parliament passed a law that upgraded the punishment for the murder on the ground of honor killing. Under this law, a killer, who committed this kind of crime, will serve a minimum sentence of 25 years in the prison. The law also restricts the mechanism of forgiveness by other family members, who previously could free the killer from the punishment. Now, the forgiveness can only be applied to criminals that face the death penalty. However, even if the family forgives the murderer, he will serve a 25-year sentence in prison. Admittedly, debates on this law have lasted for four hours as representatives of the conservative Islamic factions strongly opposed the bill. Under the pressure of world organizations, the government was forced to introduce urgent changes in their legislation because of the striking figures of victims in Pakistan. In this regard, officials reported that every year the number of cases reached 500-100 instances, while other sources estimated 12,000 crimes annually. The world community supports Pakistani women and strives to protect them from honor killing via the laws that proclaim the empowerment of females.

The legal authority often provides positive solutions. Thus, the integration of both international and local communities, as well as NGOs, may help women. The resolution that was adopted by the General Assembly on November 20, 2014, stressed the importance of intensifying the efforts of the Pakistani government and the global community in order to solve the problem of honor killing. The United Nations and other organizations that deal with the development and humanitarian issues spend much effort on managing this issue. They urge the Pakistani authorities to adopt a pro-active part and take all possible steps in order to ensure the safety and security of their women. International organizations demand the state government provide women with improved access to justice in accordance with the constitution, laws, and international obligations.

Steps that Have Been Taken to Tackle Honor Killing in India

India has actively participated in the discussion of human rights in international forums on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms of all its citizens. However, the local tradition of honor killing still shocks the international community. Experts sound the alarm because of the fact that such a tradition cannot exist in the globalized world; thus, it should be eradicated as soon as possible. Being aware of numerous incidents of honor killings, legal authorities take required steps in order to solve this problem through amendments to the law, actions by the Supreme Court, new bills against the practice, and other legal tools. Proposed bills against honor killing define that those who refuse to obey the law will be called criminals and sentenced to jail. According to official data, honor killing is spread in three Indian states: Haryana, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh. In such a manner, 900 cases of killings occur in these three states annually. Unfortunately, there is no nationwide statistics on this problem. It still exists due to a caste-based system of the Indian society. Unlike Pakistan, India has no special law against honor killing in India.

However, India is aware that it does not manage these difficulties as of now; it admits that much must be done in order to protect women from honor killings. The government assumes that though specific laws have been designed against such killings, it is difficult to bring them to life because of nepotism and corruption. The world community and international organizations call for stopping honor killing in India because they understand that due to migration, globalization, or conflicts, this local problem can be brought to other countries. Measures that aim at combating this practice in India include, in particular, the establishment of the criminal responsibility for such actions. However, because of religion, corruption, and strong caste structure of the society, it is difficult to implement this legislation.

Solutions and Predictions

In order to stop honor killings in India and Pakistan, the governments, international organizations, and societies need to cooperate and combine their forces. The global community should be well informed about the spread of these crimes in both countries. This knowledge can help them develop effective programs and design relevant steps in order to protect victims via the legislation. Some experts believe that providing women with a higher position in the society may empower them to apply to the Supreme Court. Nowadays, globalization, migration, new technologies, and networking communications allow sharing information all over the world. Therefore, Pakistani and Indian women can rely on the global community in solving their problem. However, these optimistic prognosis may meet serious opposition from the ruling classes. The point is that this problem considers not only the position of females in the society but also religious practices that are hard to eradicate or even change. Only by abandoning these traditions, countries can change the position of women.

The probability that Pakistani or Indian families can manage the issue on their own and provide at least a semblance of justice tends to zero. However, the humanity that stands against any kinds of oppression considers the fact of honor killing a grave crime and barbarity. This issue is rather complex and controversial; thus, it requires international support and intervention. Otherwise, honor killings will continue to exist either legally or illegally.

Honor killings are a common practice in Pakistan and India. Their victims include hundreds of women every year. In spite of being democratic countries with constitutions that guarantee the right of choice for everyone, both India and Pakistan violate the women’s rights. Killing for honor is always a collective crime, which is implemented by a conspiracy of several individuals; thus, it cannot be classified as a case of domestic violence. Thus, honor killing is a cold-blooded murder. As a rule, a victim has no chance to resist, hide, run away, or escape the assigned punishment in any other way. All members of the family or clan, including the victim, are aware of what is going to happen. In this case, the family, clan, and society are an organized armed criminal gang. Unfortunately, due to religion and traditions, both India and Pakistan seem to be unable to solve this problem at the time.

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