In Pakistani-administered Kashmir, a girl died on Monday
after being beaten and doused with acid by her parents. Her father saw her
looking at two men ride by on motorcycles, and her parents suspected that she
was having relations with one of them. Her parents did not take her to the
hospital till the next morning, but she was horrifically burned and passed away
Tuesday evening. The girl’s elder sister was the one to alert the police, after
becoming suspicious that the parents would not permit anyone to the face of the
dead girl before being buried, which is the normal custom in Kashmir Muslim
society.
This is what is called an honor killing, performed mostly
when male family members feel that the victim has brought dishonor to the
community. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan reports that 943 women were
killed for this reason last year. This type of case, however, is rare in the
Pakistani controlled Kashmir. In March of this year, the government made acid
attacks a criminal offense, punishable with life imprisonment. With the vast
number of increasing honor killings in Pakistan in the last year this action by
the government is important, and a positive change that will hopefully begin to
decrease the acceptance of these honor based crimes. These killings sometimes
have nothing to do with religion, instead being based upon the regional
cultures, however religious justifications have been used for permitting honor
killings.
On Friday this case goes to court, and it will be seen
whether the parents admit or deny their murder charges.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20173484
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/honourcrimes/crimesofhonour_1.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honor_killing
http://honour-killings.com/
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