SWAT: Swat district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has reported a total of 299 honor killings over the past seven years, according to an NGO report.
Honor killing is the murder of a family member or outsider on the pretext of protecting one’s family honor. Reasons for such killings include marrying on their own will, divorce, refusing to a forced marriage proposal, desire to marry outside caste or family, and illicit relations.
In Swat, a non-governmental organization, “The Awakening”, has been documenting cases of domestic violence, honor killings, sexual assault and suicides since 2012.
A report prepared by this organization states that 229 people have been killed in the name of honor over the last seven years. About 211 of the slain were women and 18 were men. The report said that in 2016, fifty-three people were killed in the district, followed by fifty deaths in 2017, thirty-two each in 2018 and 2019, and twenty-nine in 2020. More recently, eighteen fell prey to honor killing in 2021 and fifteen others in 2022.
On the other hand, figures obtained from Swat police under the Right to Information Act 2013 showed that 42 persons including 37 females and 5 males were murdered in the name of honor in seven years, which contradicts the report organized by the NGO.
The data showed that a mere seven cases were reported in 2016, six in 2017, five in 2018, nine in 2019, seven in 2020, eight in 2021 and six in 2022. Police said that twenty cases were currently under court processions while sixty-nine accused were arrested.
Covering Up the Honor Killings
Sister of a girl who was murdered in the name of honor in Matta tehsil of Swat remorsefully stated that her bother killed her younger sister in the name of honor. She said that her sister wanted to marry a boy she loved. However, her brothers fearing a court marriage killed her. “Both of them loved each other and both wanted to resolve the issue amicably,” she said. She also pointed out that her sister was killed with poison infused tea and the family when questioned claimed that she died of cancer.
Another young man from Babuzai area of the district said that he tied his knot in marriage to the girl he loved in a court wedding. He said that they were currently living a happy life. However, he added that years after their marriage, they were forced to live outside the district due to the looming fear of honor killing. “I have heard that my wife’s family is looking for killing both of us,” he said.
Why are Honor Killings not Reported?
Irfan Khan Babak, the head of The Awakening said that in most of the honor killing cases, victims are poisoned by their families. He said that later these killings are covered up as suicides. He pointed that most of the cases are reported in remote areas of Matta, Charbagh, Khawazkhela and Kabal tehsils.
Zahid Khan, senior leader at ANP said that in seven years, they have reported 229 honor killing cases in Swat. However, he said that in 80% of cases, the accused have been convicted by courts. He added that sometimes families patch up the matters out of court.
Babak stated that reporting honor killings was not an easy job and they also encounter many problems while reporting such murders. “Many of the families involved even threaten us and lawyers,” he said.
Moreover, such families also run campaigns against them; but he added that they will continue the fight against such killings.
Swat Police Version
On the other hand, DPO Swat did not respond to a request for comments on the subject. However, SP Swat Arshad Khan said that police was seriously working on honor killing cases. He said that the accused in all such cases are arrested and convicted from courts. However, he denied allegations that police covers up honor killings as accidental deaths.
He said that currently twenty cases of honor killings were in courts and they will try their best to get convictions for them. (Edited By Khadijah Kamili)
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