Another day and another female loses her life over the so-called preservation of familial honour that her body is supposed to encapsulate. A victim of gang rape being brutally shot dead by none other than her brother makes a heart-wrenching mockery of the society and its golden ideals that most Pakistanis love to take immense pride in. The swirling talk of the authorities acting hand-in-glove with the alleged culprits because of their influential kin further twists the dagger in. It was only a while ago when a motorway gang-rape victim withdrew her complaint of a crime that had shaken the country to its core. Meanwhile, the infamous Zahir Jaffar continues with his delaying shenanigans in the Noor Muqaddam murder case; giving a thumbs-up to anyone dreaming of getting away with wronging any passer-by woman. That rape is a crime of passion has long been refuted but today, the tragic dilemma is not putting reins on these beasts running amok but our apparent intolerance of our victims. The furious brother in Sargodha made for a catchy soundbite because his murder was picked up by media but for every one reported, hundreds, if not thousands, manage to be swept under the rug. When would this facade of ghairat end and sanity prevail is almost impossible to answer because despite living in 2022, almost every desi household expects its daughters and sisters to abide by the unsaid rules, to keep themselves “pure” come what may? As for from where then do these rapists magically appear, Manto’s emphatic description of a woman being nothing but a piece of flesh to anyone she is not related to is right up the street. *