As part of ancient Japanese tradition, ‘Bushido’, a moral code for Samurai warriors, enforces the significance of valuing honour, above even life itself. This is a heritage which manifests deeply in Japan’s culture till today, and so, the Japanese being a society which is not one for forgiving honour-tarnishing mistakes.
Likewise, at the present time, protecting one’s honour and effectually the dignity of his or her family is an issue of much prominence in many cultures, and in certain parts of the world such as the Middle East, South Asia and also North Africa, it is, at times, of great consequence; one so grave it takes on the form of an ‘Honour Killing’.
One such noteworthy incident associated with this phenomenon that is Honour Killing is the death of 26 years young social media celebrity Fouzia Azeem, popularly known as Qandeel Baloch in the year 2016 in the city of Multan in Pakistan – an incident which sent shockwaves through not only the people of Pakistan, its media, but also internationally, to humanitarians and organisations alike. However, what lead to the outrage is that this wasn’t just any other murder case; here, the brother of Qandeel, one Muhammad Wasim confessed, quite boldly and apparently guilt-free to having strangulated his sister, the victim, to death, and why? Because, in his very own words, her risqué and salacious lifestyle “had made our lives very difficult and I had no other solution”. Now, who will tell this man, that there is no honour in murder?
Following this tragic and inhumane crime, the father of the deceased lodged a First Information Report under sections 302 and 109 of Pakistan’s Penal Code against his son and others for murder (Qatl-i-Amd) and abetting. Once the trial commenced, the main accused, Muhammad Wasim, despite his earlier admission, pleaded false involvement, further claiming his above confession was false and obtained pursuant to physical torture. However, despite this, Additional Sessions Judge, in September, 2019, convicted him under section 311 of the Pakistan Penal Code with life imprisonment, whilst acquitting all else accused.
Sure, the murderer was sentenced to a life behind bars; indeed, he was sent to jail. Certainly, the entire country felt the impact of a singular act of murder committed by a man against his own blood, leaving the nation polarised in the hopeless aftermath. In fact, the outrage was so immense that even prior to conviction of the accused in the Qandeel case, it lead to a Bill being passed and the Legislature, in March, 2016, enacting a much-needed amendment to sections of Pakistan’s Penal Code, which dates back to 1860, calling the new law the Criminal Law (Amendment) (Offences in the name or pretext of Honour) Act, 2016. Under this, irrespective of being a compoundable offence, i.e. one where the complainant enters into a compromise with the accused, in effect agreeing to drop charges, the accused shall, where it is a case of Killing for Honour, in other words ‘Fasad-fil-arz’ as specified in the amended section 299(e) to include the offence ‘which has been committed in the name or on the pretext of honour’, regardless of a waiver of ‘Qisas’ (being punishment of causing death coupled with intention), be punishable to life imprisonment as outlined in section 311.
This amendment not only confronted the status quo that existed in terms of the increasing number of deaths of women in the name of supposed honour and pride followed by challenging the impunity that was allowed under the law of the land to the murderer, who, in many instances, would escape scot-free; it further went on to have a constructive impact on the case of Qandeel whereby the learned Trial Judge, in his judgment, was pleased to disregard the compromise agreement submitted in court by Qandeel’s only living heir, her mother, pardoning and seeking acquittal of her brother, her killer. The order went on to state that during trial, the prosecution has “successfully proved its case beyond shadow of reasonable doubt through cogent, convincing and inspiring evidence against the accused for committing qatl-i-amd (wilful murder) of his sister”.
Then why, by way of his Appeal before the Lahore High Court, did the court, only last week, order the release of Qandeel’s brother; once a declared murderer, now a free man?
And to think that once revised, the relevant laws would thereon provide airtight protection to the disease that is Honour Killing and ensure no lacunae exist in seeking its cure before a Court of law. Although, it is true that in 2020, in his landmark order, Qazi Faez Isa J did acknowledge Pakistan having one of the highest per-capita honour killings in the world, particularly amongst women. Moreover, after Lahore’s High Court reduced to life imprisonment the death sentence of one Muhammad Abbas who was convicted for the murder of his wife, the divisional bench led by Qazi Faez Isa refused to grant leave to appeal for further reduction, upholding the prescribed punishment for honour killings under section 302 to be no less than death or imprisonment for life.
However, last week’s shocking verdict fell short of this Supreme Court ruling. No surprise, it sent social media spiralling and the people of Pakistan back to some soul-searching, in turn expressing much exasperation and seeking due validation for the release of Qandeel’s brother. This is especially called for since it was earlier proven beyond reasonable doubt and maintained by the lower as well as Court of Appeal that Wasim did in fact murder his sister – and so, one can only beg the question – was this short-lived imprisonment enough punishment for his abhorrent and proven criminal act?
On assessment of the Order under review, it appears that the answer lies in an important question of law which was addressed by the Hon’ble High Court – was this in fact an Honour Killing? To settle this, the Hon’ble High Court examined the only piece of clear and qualitative evidence available in this case, being the confession of Wasim, where although committing the act murder was admitted, the motive, being a killing in the name of honour failed to bear any mention. Additionally and based on judicial precedent on the subject, the learned Sohail Nasir J reached the conclusion that due to certain illegalities whilst recording of confession by the learned Magistrate such as handcuffs on the Appellant, use of English-urdu, lack of privacy during confession, etc., it be declared that ‘the value of the confession cannot be considered more than a piece of paper.’
Upon the discarding of the sole piece of evidence, being the confession, which could possibly have established the ingredients of a case of Honour Killing and, coupled with the act itself, being an unseen occurrence as well as all witnesses having resiled their statements, it became clear that neither the sections of law, specifically section 311, the defence nor punishment dealing with Honour Killings would be applicable in the instant case, thereby as per law, pronouncing it as merely another routine murder. Consequently and based on a pardon in field in the form of an Affidavit as previously submitted in Court by the mother, it effectively set aside his earlier conviction, essentially affirming Muhammad Wasim a free man walking.
Option of Appeal remains; legal options may always be reviewed – but it does not appear to end here. Honour killings have a life beyond any verdict passed by a court of law. If these loopholes in our legal system are not sidestepped, the gap is not plugged, gender inequality and marginalization will continue to make women in our society more vulnerable to violence and different forms of abuse, all under the garb of honour. Afterall, the same Qandeel Baloch who was widely recognized for “trying to change the typical orthodox mindset of people who don’t want to come out of their shells of false beliefs and old practices” ultimately turned out to be a victim to that very mindset.
Qandeel Baloch and many like her may have lost their lives to these unacceptable practices, but in the long run, in the name of Honour Killing, it is humanity that is being murdered.
The writer is a Lawyer & based in Lahore. She can be reached at [email protected]