MINGORA: The recent increase in incidents of honour killing and suicide attempt by women in Swat has triggered concerns among civil society members and human rights activists.

They demanded of the government to take action against those people, who were involved in killing women in the name of honour. They also urged local people to play their role in combating the issue.

On Monday night, two women reportedly committed suicide. One woman in Kokarai village allegedly swallowed poison while the other shot herself dead in Naway Kallay area in Barikot.

The data collected by Awakening, a women rights organisation, shows that 22 deaths of women have been reported in Swat during the current year so far. It said that 12 women were killed in the name of honour while 10 committed suicide.

The data shows that 59 incidents of violence against women were reported in the district in 2016 that included 34 honouring killing cases, 19 suicides, three rape cases, two swara and one case of trafficking.

Similarly, in 2015, a total of 47 such incidents occurred that included 27 honour killing cases, 19 rape cases and one swara case.

“Even suicides committed by women are not confirmed. In many cases parents kill a girl if she refuses to marry someone according to their wishes and report it as a suicide case,” Irfan Hussain Babak, the executive director of Awakening, told this scribe.

He said that people involved in violence against women and honour killing escaped punishment as there was no proper legislation on the issue.

“Last week a man killed his wife on the third day of his marriage and his influential family pressurised her father to settle the issue by accepting money,” said Mr Babak. He added that the killer was pardoned.

He said that lack of effective and independent investigation system in police against influential families was also one of the causes in the honour killings or murder cases.

Women rights activists said that women were facing discrimination as they were not allowed to make decision about their future or life partner.

“A girl is not given a choice to select her life partner. She is not asked about it but her parents or other male members of the family decide such issues. If she refuses to accept the decision, she is killed in the name of honour,” said Neelam Chattan, a human rights activist.

Women rights activists stressed the need for effective legislation to control incidents of honour killings and violence against women.

Mr Babak said that Awakening in collaboration with psychology department of Swat University would conduct research on the causes, impacts and possible control of such issues.

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2017