By Shujauddin Qureshi
Honor killing is a curse in tribal areas of Pakistan. The killing of youths (male and female) in the name of honour has become quite common as this notorious tradition in Sindh has spread. A centuries-old tribal practice, this tradition of killing sprees empowers the tribal chieftains through their tribal courts called Jirga to kill both males and females or either for their illicit relationship to keep the tribal honour high.
This condemned tradition of Karo Kari (honour killings) is illegal and banned under Pakistani laws, which has caused the loss of numerous lives. Often killings are made to settle old disputes or mint money from the families.
This honor killing custom is in practice in most of the tribal areas in all four provinces as the formal judicial system in Pakistan is quite weaker and has failed to provide justice to weaker sections of the society. In the traditional court justice system, the killers are often set free as courts give them the benefit of a “sudden surge of anger due to honour”.
Honor Killing Incident in Johi
In such a recent incident in the Johi Taluka area in Dadu district a youth Farooq Ahmed Gadahi, who had married in the court by exercising free will to a girl of another tribe Ms Ghafooran, daughter of Ali Asghar Bahoto about three years ago in Karachi. The family of the girl was angry about this marriage and threatened to kill the couple as revenge.
The boy’s family had settled the dispute with the intervention of elders of both tribes and a deal was inked in which the boy’s father paid Rs. 3.4 million in cash to the girl’s father as compensation money for saving the life of his only son. But the grandfather of the girl Ghulam Hussain Bahoto had been threatening to kill Farooque. Later he committed honor killing.
The elders had advised the couple to live outside their village Gul Mohammad Gadehi, therefore the couple lived in another village for about three years. Later, with the girl’s family’s permission, the couple started living in their ancestral village. The boy was working in a non-government organization Thardeep at Dadu. The couple had two children, one boy and a girl.
The father of deceased Farooq told the police that the grandfather of the girl Ghulam Hussain Bahoto had been hurling threats despite the settlement of the dispute and he had brought this to the notice of the tribal elders.
And on June 6, 2020, the gunmen of the Bahoto tribe killed Farooq while he was going to his office at an NGO in Dadu city.
Honor Killing and Police System
According to the FIR registered in police station B-Section Dadul, the complainant father of the boy stated that five accused killers who were armed with weapons had opened fire on Farooq and his cousins have identified the accused as Ali Asghar son of Ghulam Hussain, Hamid son of Ahmed, Nangar Khan son of Misri, Mujeeb son of Mehar and another unknown.
The cousins found Farooq died on the spot and the accused fled away on motorcycles. The body was shifted to Civil Hospital Dadu for autopsy and a case was registered under Sections 302, 311, 148, 149, and 109 Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). So far the police have not arrested the nominated accused. The relatives have been demanding the police arrest the accused to provide justice.
Although it is a plain cold-blooded murder, the police are giving it the colour of honour killing to give benefit to the accused.
Relatives of Gadehi staged a protest demonstration at the Bypass road in Dadu for the arrest of the accused. Gadehi tribe people in other parts of Sindh including Badin, Khairpur Nathan Shah, Dokri, Gerelo and other towns also staged demonstrations.
It is a pity that for the arrest of the accused in a murder case the police do not act swiftly and the civil society or relatives of the deceased have to protest.