Here's the scenario. A father in Pakistan, suspects his daughter of having an "affair" with a local boy. He finds them together. The boy escapes but the daughter is not so lucky. The father, along with some manly relatives, proud followers of mohammed's ideology of violence and bloodshed, takes an axe and kills his own daughter. Kills her to preserve his family's honor. Kills his own daughter.
By the way, I've been searching and searching for victims of "honor killings" who are male but haven't run across one yet. Imagine that.
Here's the full and disgusting story.
By the way, I've been searching and searching for victims of "honor killings" who are male but haven't run across one yet. Imagine that.
Here's the full and disgusting story.
Yet another ‘honour killing’ in Pakistan
Islamabad: A girl in Pakistan's Punjab province became victim of an 'honour killing' when she was axed to death by her father and close relatives for allegedly having an affair with a boy from her locality.
The girl was killed after her father, Farooq Khan Baloch, became suspicious that his daughter was having an affair with Amjad, a youngster in Jhang tehsil in Punjab province. Seeing them together, Farooq with relatives Sher Khan, Asghar Khan and Riaz Khan, axed the girl to death, while the boy managed to escape, The Dawn newspaper reported on Thursday.
The police have registered a case. It said that 'honour killings' are widespread among rural Muslim tribes in Pakistan where the victims are mostly female.
The spilling of blood under the garb of honour is mostly at the behest of close family members with the aim of undoing the perceived loss of wider family status owing to the actions of the victim
7 comments:
Thanks for blogging about this subject, H.A.
Some "honor" killings victims are male. In Jordan, about one in 10 is male. In other countries such as Pakistan, the figure is higher. Although it is rare for females to do the actual killing, it isn't uncommon for them to be complicit in some way (e.g., starting and fanning rumors, failing to report these crimes).
But your point is well taken. . .the overwhelming majority of the victims is female, while the overwhelming majority of the perpetrators is male.
Ellen R. Sheeley, Author
"Reclaiming Honor in Jordan"
Ellen,
Thank you for stopping by and leaving your comments. And thank you for sharing some of your own insights here, it helps us all.
Take care and don't be a stranger!
:Holger Danske
Thank you for speaking out on this hideous subject. If we do not take up the cries of victims like this young woman who was axed to death by her family, who will?
The men serve as accuser, prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner -- while the helpless woman has no one to defend her. Only rarely do her female relatives name the murderers.
There is never an excuse for murdering a wife, daughter, sister, niece, in the name of family "honor."
Karen Tintori, author
Unto the Daughters: The Legacy of an Honor Killing in a Sicilian-American Family
www.karentintori.com
Thank you for your comments and sharing some of the truth, Karen. Please stop back...when one is dealing with islam, this is a subject that unfortunately comes to light much too often.
:Holger Danske
What I also find unconscionable, is the silence of feminist organizations on this important social issue.
Why aren't the feminists in the USA speaking out against honor killings?
Karen Tintori, author
Unto the Daughters: The Legacy of an Honor Killing in a Sicilian-American Family
www.karentintori.com
Karen,
I couldn't agree with you more on the silence from the feminist groups. Quite frankly, i'm shocked by the silence of women in the U.S. government - like Hillary Clinton, Condi Rice, Diane Feinstein, etc. The other day I actually went to the website of N.O.W. just to see what was there regarding not only honor killings but the travesty of female circumcision being done in islamic countries and there isn't a peep there about any of it.
I guess all I can say is that, in my view, the America feminist movement is more concerned about the choice they have with their own bodies than care about the very lives of their sisters across the world.
And also, I'm not really happy about the lack of MALE outrage at the honor killing of women. It's high time that men around the world stood up to these cowards who carry out this violence.
Amen, H.A., amen. All people of conscience should be outraged by these crimes and moved to insist on change.
Karen, I share your dismay at the deafening silence of the feminists and the human rights activists everywhere. But I have largely given up on them. You and I seem to be the only American women consistently out there calling attention to this problem. I just don't see solutions coming from the obvious, well-funded sources. It will take something new and more effective to forge change, I'm afraid. Something on the order of what was done for blacks under apartheid in South Africa.
H.A., I've written to a lot of government leaders and members of Congress. The only one who responded with something other than an automated e-mail response was Senator Barbara Boxer's office. I received a call, and we discussed the problem, but there was no follow through. This, too, is shameful. What about the State Department and the congressional foreign relations committees? Why can't we make some of our generous aid packages contingent upon improvements in basic human rights? Why can't we specifically target aid to shelters, safehouses, legislative reform, etc.?
Really, it's appalling. Just appalling. Sometimes I'm ashamed to be human.
Ellen
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