ISLAMABAD, July 9: Official statistics placed before the Senate on Friday revealed that the despicable custom of karo-kari had claimed the lives of 4,000 men and women in the country during the last six years.

Ministers told the upper house that the government was working on a draft law to curb the crime. The statistics placed before the Senate showed that from January 1998 to December 2003, the number of women killed in the name of honour was more than double the number of men murdered.

During the ensuing debate, senators from the treasury benches described the custom as anything but honourable. The information placed before the house in response to a question by MNA Abida Saif also showed that Punjab had the highest number of 'karo-kari' incidents followed by Sindh, the NWFP and Balochistan.

Of the total 2,774 women victims, 1,578 were killed in Punjab, 751 in Sindh, 260 in the NWFP and 185 in Balochistan. The corresponding figures for men show that 675 were killed in Punjab, 348 in Sindh, 188 in the NWFP and 116 in Balochistan.

Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat's answer to the question showed that the number of cases registered for the crime was less than the number of persons killed during the six years.

Only 3,451 cases were registered in the country while 4,010 men and women were killed under the guise of karo-kari during the period in question. Of the 3,451 cases registered in the country from January 1998 to December 2003, a total of 1,834 cases were registered in Punjab, 980 in Sindh, 361 in the NWFP and 276 in Balochistan.

The figures showed that out of a total of 1,834 cases, 422 were still pending while 1,412 cases had either been decided or a compromise reached between the parties. Of the total 980 cases registered in Sindh, 609 were shown as pending while a compromise or a decision had been taken in 231 cases.

In the NWFP, 167 cases were pending out of the total 316 registered during the six years. A decision or comprise was reached in 185 cases. Of the 76 cases registered in Balochistan, 23 were pending by the end of 2003, while a decision or a compromise had been reached in 41 cases.

Statistics of the cases in trial courts showed that 160 cases were decided in Punjab by the lower judiciary which resulted in death sentence to 52 accused and life imprisonment to 59. The rest of the accused were awarded different punishments by the lower judiciary in Punjab.

The Senate was told that 44 appeals against the decisions of lower judiciary were lying in the high court whereas one appeal is pending in the Supreme Court. In Sindh, the trial court awarded life imprisonment to an accused who committed a karo kari murder while in another case rigorous imprisonment of 25 years was given.

In the NWFP, 15 persons were convicted and 358 cases were challaned. However, the nature of punishments awarded to the persons who murdered in the name of karo-kari was not given.

In Balochistan, 12 individuals were given death sentence for committing murder in the guise of karo kari while 14 were awarded life imprisonment with fine. One appeal is pending before the Balochistan High Court.

During the debate on the issue, senator Saadia Abbasi of the PML-N at one point said that the house should take up other items on the agenda and move from the debate on karo-kari during the question hour.

Senator Sanaullah Baloch made an attempt to link the issue of provincial autonomy with karo-kari and recommended that the government refer the matter to provincial governments for legislation.

However, Faisal Saleh Hayat and Raza Hayat Hiraj from the treasury benches assured the upper house that the government would soon place the draft law to combat the menace of karo-kari before parliament in a short period of time.