GUJRAT: Thirty-five women were killed in the name of honour and domestic violence in Gujrat district in 2021.

There had been a slight increase in the figure as 33 women were killed in 2020 and 37 in 2019.

Seven women were killed in the name of honour in 2021 and the previous year. The number of honour killings was 10 in 2019.

Though police claimed to have arrested 40 suspects out of the 85 nominated in the women murder cases of 2021, no one could be convicted as the data of district police show. There has been no conviction in the last three years.

Similarly, 10 cases of murder attempts on women were lodged in the outgoing year.

A 25-year-old woman was killed in the latest incident near the sessions court by her brother and a cousin for contracting a love marriage around one month ago. In another incident, two sisters and their husbands were found murdered in a residential flat near Kharian city in December.

Most of the incidents of violence against women are reported from the rural areas of Gujrat.

A total of 155 people have been murdered in Gujrat district in 2021 in 139 incidents. Police said they arrested 307 suspects out of the 610 nominated in those cases.

A spokesman for the Gujrat police said the number of women’s murder cases had witnessed a decline during the last eight years as 51 women were murdered in 2013.

He said reconciliation between the complainants and the suspects had been a major reason of low conviction rate of such cases.

Published in Dawn, December 31st, 2021