Asian Human Rights Commission & Human Rights Education Forum (Pakistan)

This article comprises summaries of some cases of ‘honour killing’ in Sindh Province of Pakistan received by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) via the Human Rights Education Forum (HREF–Pakistan) in recent months. In most cases the Urgent Appeals were issued because of fear that police would fail to act on the crime.

In Pakistan, each year hundreds of women and girls are killed because of alleged relations with males, or for refusing to abide by their parents’ choice of husband. In September 2003, a human rights organisation in Pakistan reported that at least 631 women and six girls died in ‘honour killing’ cases perpetrated by their own relatives during the first eight months of 2003. These figures were based only on newspaper reports, which fall far short of the total number of actual killings, likely to be that figure a number of times over. The male relatives who usually commit the murders are rarely sanctioned within their communities. It appears that any action by a female that is deemed to compromise the family reputation, whether real or merely suspected, is considered a valid reason to commit murder.

Although illegal under national laws, and inconsistent with Islamic doctrine in both the Quran and Shariah, these killings are generally dealt with—and often ordered by—the feudal landlords operating tribal courts, jirga. In Sindh Province the jirga system is particularly strong, so even where the families of victims lodge complaints with the police and motivate them to investigate cases, these cases do not usually end up in court due to high costs and long delays in getting justice. Therefore, victims’ families resort to the jirga, where the cases are mostly settled within a few days, usually by way of compensation and without any possibility of punishment for the perpetrators, under the Ordinance of Qisas (law of retribution) and Diyat (law of compensation). Under this Ordinance, if the guardian of the victim forgives the offender and the offender provides compensation, the offender can be released without any punishment. For this reason too, in many killings of women that are not actually ‘honour killings’, the perpetrators claim that the woman was an adulterer or otherwise, in order to avoid criminal proceedings and have a jirga decide the matter.

On 23 April 2004, in a significant decision, Justice Rehmat Hussain Jaffery of the Sukkur Bench, High Court of Sindh, outlawed tribal jirgas as contrary to the Constitution. He also strictly banned efforts to organise or arrange any type of jirga, and bound law enforcement agencies to take several steps against them. In his judgement, Justice Jaffery stated that:

47. … Private persons have no authority to execute the decision of jirgas nor the jirgas have the authority to execute their own decisions through their own sources. If such decisions are carried out and executed by killing persons, then the offence of murder will be committed and they will be liable for action as per the law… the jirgas have also usurped the powers of the executing authorities which is not permissible under the Constitution or the law.

48. The Constitution is based on a trichotomy of powers, i.e. legislature, judiciary and executive, whose powers and duties are enshrined in the Constitution ..... in jirgas the powers of legislature, judiciary and executive authorities are being exercised. All the learned counsel are unanimous that jirgas are against the trichotomy powers of the Constitution. It thus appears that jirgas are undermining or attempting to undermine the provisions of the Constitution.

49. Apart from the above position, in jirgas the assembly may be in the first instance lawful, but the purpose for which they assemble is unlawful and then they conspire to commit some offences therefore they expose themselves for action as provided under various and relevant provisions of [the Pakistan Penal Code]… In such a situation it is the public duty of the police to act swiftly and to exercise their powers and perform their duties to curb the offences being committed or book the persons who committed the offences… It is also one of the public duties of the police to protect the life of the citizens who complain to them…

The judge’s ruling sets a precedent, but is applicable only to Sindh, and it is now necessary for the same to occur in the Supreme Court of Pakistan for the practice to be prohibited across the country. 

Meanwhile, the judgment having been made, it is yet to be practically enforced in Sindh, as a number of the following cases—which occurred after the ruling—illustrate.

1. Malookan & Ali Dost: Shot dead at their houses

Malookan (45 years old) and Ali Dost, alias Moran Jakhrani (25 years old), were killed in Kandhkot town, District Jacobabad, Sindh Province on 5 February 2004. They were allegedly shot dead by Bhooro Subzoai, a nephew of Malookan’s husband, along with another man named Asghar, on the pretext of ‘honour’, because Bhooro Subzoai suspected his aunt of having had sexual relations with Ali Dost. Bhooro Subzoai reportedly came to Malookan’s home with Asghar in the morning of February 5 and shot her as she was working. After that they both went outside and killed Ali Dost at his house in the same street.

After the incident the police sent the bodies of the victims to Kandhkot Hospital for an autopsy. Two separate reports were then lodged at A-Section Police Station Kandhkot, against ten culprits, although the above-mentioned two alleged culprits were identified in both reports. One report (Crime No. 14/04 Section 302 of Pakistan Penal Code), was lodged by Sanwal Subzoai, the father of Malookan, against five persons; Bhooro Subzoai, Asghar, Zulfiqar,Sijawal and Khan Mohammad. Meanwhile, the other report (Case No. 15/04, section 302 Pakistan Penal Code), was lodged by Abdul Karim Jakhrani, brother of Ali Dost, against five persons; Bhooro Subzoai, Asghar, Malook, and two unknown persons. He has stated that his brother was falsely accused of sexual relations with Malookan.

According to Malookan’s father, Bhooro Subzoai killed one of his nephews a year ago and had forbidden him to meet his daughter. However, he still went to meet his daughter during the Eid Festival on 2 February 2004, and Bhooro Subzoai killed both the victims out of anger. He has also insisted that his daughter had not had sexual relations with Ali Dost. Despite the lodging of the two reports, at the time of the Urgent Appeal being issued the police were yet to take action with regards to the alleged perpetrators. 

2. Hidayat Mahar: Killed while working in her fields

Hidayat Mahar, 30-years-old, married Momin Ali Mahar, her cousin, over ten years ago. They had since lived in Dal village, Lakhi Ghulam Shah town, Shikarpur District, Sindh Province, had worked their farm together, and had two children.  

According to Karim Dino Mahar, father of Hidayat, in the early morning of 29 February 2004, the couple was working their field adjacent to where he was working his own land with his two sons. He continues, “I saw my son-in-law had a single-barrelled gun in his hand. They worked at the field for some time and then… they started to quarrel with each other. Then Momin Ali Mahar pointed the gun at my daughter. She ran to our side, but Momin fired at her and she fell on the ground. I ran to my daughter along with my sons. When we reached the scene, we saw that she was bleeding, with injuries on her left buttock. In the meantime, my son-in law had fled. We took her to the Chuk Hospital immediately, but she died at the hospital.”

Karim Dino Mahar then went to lodge a complaint at the Chak Police Station (Case No.20/2004, section 302 Pakistan Penal Code) on the same day. While he recorded that the murder was the result of a domestic quarrel, a claim of ‘honour killing’ has since arisen. There is no information available to indicate the reason for the quarrel or murder. The HREF has therefore indicated that the case may be disposed of by way of settlement under the Ordinance of Qisas and Diyat, and without effective police action. 

3. Shahul Shar: Yet another domestic dispute ends in murder

Shahul Shar, 25-years-old, married her cousin Manthar Ali Shar about nine years ago. They had since lived together with the family of her brother, Khair Bux Shar, in Bakhshoo Ujan village, Garhi Yaseen town, Shikarpur District, Sindh Province.

On the evening of 21 February 2004, Manthar Ali and Shahul had a domestic quarrel. That night, according to Khair Bux Shar, he and two of his cousins were sleeping in their rooms, while Manthar Ali and Shahul were sleeping in the dairy farm, located a short distance away. At about 8:30pm, they heard a gunshot from the dairy farm. They ran there, and saw Manthar Ali fleeing over a thorn fence, holding a pistol in his hand. Shahul was bleeding seriously, and died shortly after.

Khair Bux Shar lodged a report about the incident (Case No. 8/04, section 302 Pakistan Penal Code) at Dakhan Police Station, to the effect that his sister was killed because of a domestic dispute. However, the accused has claimed that it was a case of ‘honour killing’, although there is no evidence to substantiate this claim. HREF has reported that the police have attempted to conceal the details of the case, and have it dealt with by way of a compensation payment, rather than charge the alleged perpetrator with murder.

4. Koonjan: Child-wife murdered and body dumped

Todo Bahilkani married his daughter Koonjan to Ahmedan Bangwar two years ago, when she was around 11-years-old. Since that time she had lived with her husband in Kato Bangwar Village, Kandhkot Town, Jacobabad District, Sindh Province.

On 4 March 2004 Todo Bahilkani went to meet his daughter at her husband’s home, on the way joining with his two cousins, Bilawal and Rasool Bux. After arriving, the three were chatting together with her. Around 8:30pm, Ahmadan, his father Todo, his uncle Mehar, his brother Khalid and another relative named Rahmatullah came to the house, all with guns in their hands. Ahmedan dragged Koonjan to the ground and accused her of having a sexual relationship with a person named Tahir Bahilkani. He and his family members then shot her to death. After that, they took away her body in a bullock cart. Koonjan’s father and his two cousins saw everything, but they could not do anything because they were unarmed. They then rushed back to their village to contact their tribal head, Ghargaje Khan, who was out of the village at that time. He came back to the village on March 6 and advised Todo to lodge a report at the police station.

Todo Bahilkani reached the Kandhkot Town Police Officer (TPO) Masroor Jatoi on the same day (March 6), and made a complaint about the incident. The TPO ordered the Karampur Police Station to investigate the matter, where it was lodged as a complaint (Case No. 15/04 section 302, 210 Pakistan Penal Code). The police raided the houses of the alleged offenders, but they had already fled. Nor did the police succeed in recovering Koonjan’s body. When Subdivisional Police Officer of Investigation Kandhkot, Gul Hassan Khan, was contacted regarding the case on March 31 and April 1, he said that the body of the victim has not yet been found.

5. Hazooran: Domestic argument made to appear like ‘honour killing’

On 13 April 2004, Ali Sher went to visit his 36-year-old sister, Hazooran, at her house in Drakhan village, Garhi Yaseen town, Shikarpur District, along with his maternal cousin Allah Wadhayo and his friend Ghulam. According to him, after they arrived, they found that Hazooran had quarrelled with her husband of some 21 years, Gulshan Ali, over a domestic matter. In the evening they left her house to go back to Taraai village. They went to Darkhan Bus Stand, but could not find a vehicle going to their village because it was already too late, so they came back to stay overnight with Ali’s sister.

The next morning (April 14), they woke up early to leave for their village. At about 6:30am, Hazooran and her husband Gulshan started to quarrel, and Gulshan verbally abused his wife. Ali Sher says that he asked Gulshan not to use such language towards his sister. Gulshan became furious and he and his brother Dilawar started to beat Hazooran. Ali Sher and his companions tried to stop the quarrel but Gulshan brought out a pistol and shot Hazooran in the belly, killing her. Ali Sher and his companions tried to catch Gulshan and Dilawar, but Gulshan warned them not to follow him and his brother or he would shoot them too.

Ali Sher immediately went to lodge a complaint at the Drakhan Police Station, while his companions stayed at the house. Although he reported the murder as due to a domestic dispute (Case No. 27/04, section 302, 34 Pakistan Penal Code), the counter-claim arose that it was a case of ‘honour killing’. 

Notwithstanding, the police arrested Gulshan Ali in his village on May 30, and detained him at the Shikarpur District Jail. His case has been sent to the court and the judiciary is now handling it. With regards to the arrest, the HREF has remarked that, “It seems that the police are realizing their responsibility due to outside pressure.” However, the AHRC has expressed concern that it might take several years to obtain a decision from the court, and is monitoring further developments in this case. 

6. Wazeeran Mahar: Accused of adultery in killing over property dispute

Wazeeran Mahar lived with her husband Nawab and three children in Sanjrani Street, Rohrri town, Sukkur District. She was an elected counsellor for Taluka Subdivision in the Rohrri Union Council.

She has another house in her home village, Rustam, Shikarpur District. Some time back, Zaheer and his family offered to buy the house in Rustam from Wazeeran, but she refused the offer.

Wazeeran’s brother, Hakim Ali, states that on the afternoon of 6 March 2004 he and his son-in-law Ali Asghar came to Rohrri to visit Wazeeran. Around sunset, Zaheer Ahmed, Mohammad Salih and Bhooral came to Wazeeran’s house. Her husband Nawab was away working at a dairy farm. The three nephews again offered to buy Wazeeran’s house in Rustam, and again she refused. Then they asked her to stay there the night. They were given a separate room, while Wazeeran, her son Sadaruddin and Ali Asghar slept in the corridor.

At around 5:30am the next morning (March 7), Hakim Ali went to the toilet. He says that when he came back, he saw that the three nephews had all come into the corridor holding pistols. Zaheer woke up Wazeeran and asked her whether she would sell her house to him or not. At that time, the victim’s son and Ali Asghar woke up due to the noise. When Wazeeran said no, Mohammad Salih told the others to kill her. Zaheer then fired on Wazeeran and hit her right cheek. Qaaim-u-ddin fired on her right shoulder and Wazeeran fell down on the bed and died. After that the three fled, firing randomly so that witnesses could not catch them. Hakim Ali then immediately went to the Rohrri Police Station to report the incident (Case No. 21/04, section 302, 114, 34/337Hii Pakistan Penal Code). He stated in the report that the murder was due to the dispute over the house.

However, when Nawab was contacted about the case on April 19, he stated that the offenders had falsely accused Wazeeran of committing adultery in order to escape punishment. He also said that since the killing, the offenders were constantly threatening his family and pressuring him to withdraw the complaint. He said that as Zaheer’s father Sherdil is a police head constable in Sukkur District, the police had to date taken no serious action to investigate the matter.

Wazeeran was a political activist who had a long career. As noted, at the time of her death, she was elected as a counsellor representing women in the Rorrhi Union Council under a programme of devolution of power. Due to this, a resolution was moved in the Sukkur District Council to arrest the perpetrators, but it did not get any positive results.

 
7. Tahmeena & Aabida Bhutto: Killed for visiting grandparents without permission

On 7 May 2004, Fazal Bhutto approached HREF to seek help over the killing of his sister, Tahmeena, age 17, and his cousin, Aabida, 18. He claimed the influential landlord of his village, Abdul Rasheed Bhutto, had organised the killing of the two teenagers out of ‘honour’, and had it approved by the Jirga, because the girls went to visit their grandparents in the nearby city of Sukkur on May 1 without informing their family members.

On May 2, Dad Mohammad, Aabida’s father, together with Hajji Shafi Mohammad Bhutto (accused no. 8) and Sanaullah Bhutto (accused no. 9), went to search for the girls. Another group consisting of Hidayatullah Bhutto, another of Tahmeena’s brothers, together with Abdul Rasheed Bhutto (accused no. 1) and Younis Bhutto (accused no. 2) went to Sukkur to search for the victims as well. The second search party found the girls with their grandfather. Abdul Rasheed Bhutto brought the girls to his bungalow at Lakhi gate, in Shikarpur. Then, being the tribal leader, Abdul Rasheed called Jamaluddin (accused no. 3), Hajji Abdul Karim Bhutto (accused no. 4), Ghulam Sarwar (accused no. 5) and Sulaiman (accused no. 6) to his bungalow to convene a jirga. He also called Fazal Bhutto, his brother Hidayatullah, and his uncle, Dad Mohammad. The men were told that the girls were under his protection, and would be handed back to the family the following day.

On May 3, Fazal Bhutto, his brother and uncle went to Abdul Rasheed to get the girls. Abdul Rasheed told them to go back to their village of Jano, and that he himself would bring the girls. Fazal and the other two men walked back to the village, as it was late at night and there was no public transport. As they reached the Bhutto graveyard beside the village, the perpetrators came with the girls in their cars and stopped alongside. They ordered the girls out, and told Fazal, his brother and uncle to kill the girls. They said that they had loose morals for not getting permission to visit their grandparents. The men refused, and begged for the girls to be released unharmed. However, the men from the cars took out pistols and shot the girls dead, and then warned the three men not to report the case to the police unless they also wanted to be killed. After that, they took the bodies away; they were later located in a dry pond about one kilometre away from the village.

Fazal Bhutto and his relatives went home and conferred with their family about whether they should report to the police or not. After deciding to do so, they went to the Officer in Charge of the police station in New Faojdari to make their complaint (Case No. 65/04, section 302, 201, 147, 148, 149/506/2 Pakistan Penal Code). The family subsequently received constant threats to withdraw the case, and has been ostracised in the village, while the perpetrators are being protected. Abdul Rasheed Bhutto contacted the family and told them to accept a fine (for their wrongdoing) and withdraw the case. He refused to hand over the dead bodies of the girls because, according to him, they have decayed.

After the original Urgent Appeal was issued and the local police station notified, the police assigned two policemen to provide security to the family members of the girls.

On May 17, the police obtained an eight-day physical remand of three of the accused, Hajji Nazeer, Hajji Shafi Mohammad and Sulaiman. However, they brought the men to the anti-terrorism court, Sukkur, so the judge refused to remand the three men, as the case did not fall under the anti-terrorism law. He directed the police to obtain a remand order from the judicial magistrate. Later, the police brought the accused to the judicial magistrate at Shikarpur and obtained a remand order.

On May 18, a demonstration against the murder of Tahmeena and Aabida was held, demanding the immediate arrest of the other six perpetrators, and that steps be taken against the persons who organised the jirga.

On May 26, the police again approached the anti-terrorism court on the case by attaching more supporting documents, including documents from HREF and AHRC, to illustrate that the girls’ murders had spread fear and insecurity among the family and the community. The police appear to have pursued the cases relating to the three men arrested in order to make an example of them. However, six other accused persons, including Abdul Rasheed Bhutto, who made the decision to kill the girls, were still at large at the end of May. HREF and AHRC have also received information that the District Investigation officer dealing with the case, Fida Hussain Mastoi has been pressured politically, and there is apprehension that he maybe be transferred to another place.

8. Begum & Manzoor Ahmed Lund: Police refuse to register case under pressure from tribal chief

Begum Lund and Manzoor Ahmed Lund were killed in Ali Mohammad Lund village, near Jagan, Shikarpur District, Sindh Province, on 31 May 2004. When a relative of one of the victims tried to lodge a complaint with the police, the Station House Officer (SHO) Watch and Ward, Zafar Ali Shaikh, who is the Sub Inspector of the Jagan Police Station, is said to have refused to register it. He is known to be under pressure from a local tribal chief, Kora Khan Bhayo, who wants the matter settled outside a court of law.

However, after HREF informed the District Police Officer (DPO) Shikarpur, Khameeso Khan Memon, of the case, the DPO conducted his own investigation. Satisfied that the killing occurred, the DPO ordered SHO Zafar Ali to register the complaint. On his intervention, the case then was lodged at Jagan Police Station in Humaayoon, Taluka, Shikarpur on 3 June 2004 by Zafar Ali on behalf of the state (Case No.26/2004, section 302, 201 Pakistan Penal Code). After the case was lodged, Sub Inspector Asad Soomra became the person in charge of conducting an inquiry into this case.

The report mentions that the police had received secret information about the dual murder of the above-mentioned victims on the pretext of ‘honour killing’, and that three unknown persons had killed the victims. It adds that the victims’ bodies had not been located, and accuses the villagers of concealing the facts of the case under pressure from powerful persons. Even the relatives of the victims have gone quiet. 

9. Khairan Sadhayo: Shot dead for financial reasons

On the afternoon of 9 June 2004, Ghulam Hussain Bhutto shot dead his wife of some eight years, Khairan, at their home in Shahul Sadhayo village, near Humayoon town, Shikarpur District.  At the time, Khairan’s brother, Sher Mohammad, and two other relatives, Mohammad Nawaz and Shafi Mohammad, were sitting outside the house. Upon hearing the gunshots, they ran inside, where they saw Ghulam Hussain holding a rifle and firing directly at his wife. They urged him to stop, but he pointed the weapon at them and warned them to stay away. He said that his wife had engaged in sexual relations with a certain Illahi Bux, and that he would not let her live anymore. Having said that, he fled. The men went to Khairan, but found that the bullets had hit her chest, right shoulder and right leg, and that she was already dead. 

According to Sher Mohammad, his sister had nothing to do with Illahi Bux, who is working in another city, and the reason for the killing was to extort money from Illahi Bux over the allegation. He lodged a complaint with the police  (Case No. 28/2004, section 302 Pakistan Penal Code) shortly after the killing at Jagan Police Station, Humayoon. Meanwhile, Illahi Bux and his family are said to have gone into hiding. The police have made raids and arrested certain family members of the accused, but Ghulam Hussain remained free at the time of the Urgent Appeal being issued.