Karachi woman axed to death in name of ‘honour’
KARACHI: A young woman was allegedly axed to death in the name of honour by her maternal grandfather in Marfani Goth within the remit of the Awami Colony police station on Saturday evening, police said.
Korangi-SSP Tauheed Rehman Memon said that Shahzadi, 20, was killed by her grandfather Mohammed Sharif inside their home near Bagh-i-Korangi.
The Awami Colony police claimed to have arrested the suspect and recovered the axe.
He informed the police that she had married of her own free will in Jamshoro a year ago. The suspect brought her back home, where he allegedly killed her.
“The police are treating it as a case of killing in the name of so-called honour,” Memon said.
The body has been shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for a post-mortem examination.
Earlier this week, a free-will couple was shot dead in the Manghopir area in the name of so-called honour. The police had said that relatives of Saira Luqman had allegedly killed her and her husband, Adil, in the Amir Mohammad Goth home. The family of the deceased man had refused to lodge an FIR of the murder and the police had registered a murder case on behalf of the state.
Meanwhile, a widow seeking a third marriage was shot dead allegedly by her brother in Bahadurabad late on Friday night.
SSP-East Dr Farrukh Raza said suspect Munir Shaikh shot dead his 45-year-old sister Waheeda over a domestic dispute inside their home in Dhoraji Colony and fled.
Area SHO Mohammed Naeem Rajput said that the victim was a widow and she had eight children from her previous two husbands. She wanted to get married for the third time, but her family was against it.
According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), honour killings remain a severe and persistent issue in the country.
In 2022, the HRCP recorded 520 incidents of honour killing, with 197 men and 323 women among the victims. In 2023, at least 226 women reportedly became victims of honour crimes.
Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2024