Daily Times

In what can only be termed a just conclusion to a brutal case, four men have been awarded the death sentence by an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) for the honour killing of a pregnant woman outside the Lahore High Court (LHC). Another man was given a 10-year prison sentence. Six months ago, Farzana Parveen, a 25-year-old woman looking to seek protection from the courts, was stoned to death by her father, brother and other male relatives in broad daylight for the ‘crime’ of marrying a man of her own choice. Whilst we sadly hear of honour killings more often than not here in Pakistan, this was a case that really shocked the country because of its sheer savagery and that too right on the steps of the door to justice. It is heartening, after this terrible tragedy, to hear that the perpetrators of an honour killing are being given their just desserts, being made accountable for the cold-blooded murder of this woman just because of the burden of the accursed concepts of honour and shame being thrust upon women’s shoulders. The ATC has delivered a remarkable verdict in the history of our society, a society laden with oppression and violence against the fairer sex.

What was also shocking about this particular murder was the fact that there were many bystanders, police included, who did nothing to intervene and save the woman. If this is not bystander apathy, one does not know what is. What kind of society do we inhabit when a person can be stoned to death — a primitive and bloody punishment — right in an urban centre amidst a throng of people? A society that sees as many as 1,000 reported honour killings annually, most of them committed by the male members and direct family of the victim. That is our society. Farzana Parveen was just another casualty. What is even more ironic is the fact that the man she chose to marry, the reason why she was killed, had also killed his first wife for honour but was ‘forgiven’ by his son. Men typically get away with this crime in Pakistan with hardly any recourse for the victim. However, in this case, it seems justice has been served, but this should only be the beginning. It is because of the nature of the murder and the media attention it gained that we are seeing such a swift verdict but this should not be the only reason for justice to be served. Every honour killing must see proper redress, every woman gunned down, lynched or maimed must be compensated, and every honour killer given harsh punishment for this social disease to be curbed. There is no other way. *