MURDER for ‘honour’, executed by systems meant for women’s safety, is gender-based violence at its most brutal. Rights defenders have flagged a troubling surge in the tribal custom in Sindh — data says 105 female lives have been lost to karo kari so far this year. Police statistics reveal that most perpetrators were family members: 38 husbands, 24 brothers, six fathers, and others. The HRCP puts last year’s toll of ‘honour’ killings in Pakistan at 405; far higher than 226 in 2023. Activists believe the annual toll is close to 1,000 due to political abdication and negligible enforcement of accountability mechanisms. Most cases are either miscategorised or unreported. This evil will plague women until it is stripped of the label of ‘honour’, and seen as a manifestation of toxic patriarchal control.

The last time the state showed empathy and commitment was in 2016, when it plugged loopholes so ‘honour’ killers are not easily freed. Through Section 311 of the PPC, which deals with ‘fasad fil arz’, it was ensured that the state becomes an intervener when ‘honour’ killing happens and the complainant pardons the criminal. But legislation and subsequent amendments have fallen prey to shoddy application. Legal heirs of victims can defer penalty for murder. The way to stem this curse lies in corrective action, such as the urgent implementation of the 2019 Supreme Court ban on jirgas, access to education and awareness so that misogynistic customs are criminalised. It has been aptly observed that “karo kari is an industry” given the lucrative settlements: blood money and the exchange of women through jirgas. To prevent women from being treated as commodities, the state cannot postpone the provision of extended safety, shelter and free legal aid for survivors. Equally crucial is a sensitised and empowered police force, with witness protection programmes, for higher conviction rates. A woman’s choice should not be a death sentence.

Published in Dawn, October 8th, 2025