A man was arrested for killing his 65-year-old for honour in Malir Memon Goth, the police said Tuesday.
According to the investigation officer, the suspect accused the victim of karokari. “Mir Hazar, along with his son, attacked the woman’s face and legs with an axe.” He confessed to his crime during questioning by the police. The suspect revealed that he killed a man in his neighbourhood on August 13 and hid the body.Hazar’s son, who helped him in the murders, is on the run. The police are conducting raids to arrest him at the earliest.
Around a thousand Pakistani women are murdered in honour killings each year — in which the victim, normally a woman, is killed by a relative for bringing shame on the family.Perpetrators have often walked free because of a legal loophole that allowed them to seek forgiveness for the crime from another family member.But the government has since passed a law that mandates life imprisonment, even if the attacker escapes capital punishment through a relative’s pardon.
“Antiquated and lethal notions that ‘honour’ resides in women’s bodies and actions still prevail across Pakistan,” the country’s Human Rights Commission said in a statement.
There have been increased calls from civil society for a crackdown on violence against women, in particular, and rape and sodomy cases and cases in which children are targeted.
The Noor Mukadam murder case has been in the headlines, prompting calls for stricter action and laws against violence.
