On July 4, a severely beaten body with the disfigured face was found on Indus Highway. Initially unrecognisable to police, it was finally found to be of a 24-year-old married girl, Waziran. Her father and husband accuse each other of her cold-blooded murder. A joint investigation team (JIT) has been set to investigate the incident. Local witnesses say that the murder was carried out in the name of honour. Marks on the body show that Waziran was pelted with stones and repeatedly hit with a wooden stick. Whomever the culprit, there is going to be no return of Waziran. She is another innocent soul that has lost her life to the menace of honour killing in Sindh. Even if police acts against the culprits, which is unlikely as evident from past such incidents, there is no reason to believe that honour killing will be restrained in Sindh. The resources allocated and preventive measures taken by the government are inadequate to bring about positive change anytime soon.
Every year, hundreds of women are burned, shot, strangled, drowned, and even decapitated in the name of honour. The patriarchal nature of Sindh’s society is a significant factor behind the honour killings. It will take years, if not decades, of continuous and widespread awareness programs to turn around people’s opinion of it. However, to immediately mitigate the crime, The Sindh Government must focus on the safety and security of women. There is a severe lack in the performance of police and the criminal justice system in protecting women. Adding to the difficulty, local notables, feudal lords and politicians, interfere in law enforcement’s activities to please their feudal-mindset supporters. As a result, women suffer disenfranchisement from rights, opportunities, and resources available to men. An Amnesty International report noted “the failure of the authorities to prevent these killings by investigating and punishing the perpetrators.”
Deprived of legal protection against domestic violence, hereditary rights, and many other privileges that men enjoy, women in Pakistan are living like second-class citizens
Mostly, male relatives carry out honour killing secretly, like in the case of Waziran. However, when the matter is complicated, they seek local notable’s permission through faisla, a traditional assembly of man led by a local notable, used as a court to mediate between disputing parties and execute decisions. Typically, faislas produce inhumane consequences for women such as torture, forced marriage, and even killing. Due to law enforcement’s weakness, faislas have taken primacy over state legislation. Faislas are common in rural areas, and the government is tight-lipped on the issue because the same local notables are members of legislative assemblies, local councils and government machinery.
Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act of Pakistan, 2013, and The Criminal Law Act of 2016 prescribe comprehensive protection and support to victims. However, inadequacy lies in the dispensing of justice. Judiciary and law enforcement agencies in Pakistan lag behind the legislative body to safeguard women from domestic violence. Hence, the government should focus on law enforcement and refuge. A separate task force should be created in rural areas whose sole goal is to safeguard all women by preventing abuse and punishing the perpetrators of violence for deterring others. This force must be free from the interference of local notables to protect perpetrators.
Furthermore, the government should initiate gender sensitisation programs for law enforcement officials and the judiciary to stop these cases from being treated as “private family matters.” Most importantly, a project must be initiated for the Sindh government and NGOs to collaborate to provide shelters and pro-bono legal representation to low-income women. A plan for inspiration could be found within the country, in Punjab province. Violence Against Women Center, established in Punjab in March 2017 under the Strategic Reforms Unit, has proven to be a successful initiative to protect women. First of its kind in Pakistan, VAWC is an all-in-one centre for victims of physical, psychological, and economic abuse. The centre includes an all-female police force, doctor’s office, courthouse, and counselling. It operates 24 hours a day with a staff of 60 women. Such centres, if established in all corners of Sindh, will encourage women to escape from abuse and access their rights. These centres will lead to more convictions for crimes against women with improved evidence collection strategies.
Deprived of legal protection against domestic violence, hereditary rights, and many other privileges that men enjoy, women in Pakistan are living like second-class citizens. As an individual who has witnessed the contradiction of law in theory and practice, I can confidently point to what is missing: robust policing and shelters. I refuse to believe that the state is incapable of providing justice, equality, and liberty to women. We no longer have the time for hollow debates in assemblies that deliver no justice on the ground. Now is the time for swift and strict action to make justice a reality for thousands of women maimed and murdered every year, most urgently for Waziran.
The writer is the president of Rural Education And Development (READ) Trust