File Photo. Tauseef Mustafa—AFP
Latest killing in Punjab province targeted man who had married daughter of rich agricultural family.
A man’s throat was slit by relatives of his wife who disapproved of their marriage in the latest “honor killing” to hit Pakistan, police said Saturday.
Relatives murder hundreds of women each year on the pretext of defending what is seen as family honor, but it is relatively rare for the victim to be a man. The murder happened at a marketplace in Burewala on Friday, when Muhammad Irshad, 43, was attacked by his father-in-law and two brothers-in-law, police said.
“The assailants were armed with knives and hatchets and after inflicting several wounds on Irshad’s body they slit his throat,” said district police chief Ghazi Salahuddin. Irshad had married Mussarat Bibi, the daughter of a rich local agricultural family, about an year ago and fled as he feared his in-laws would kill him, but he had returned to see his parents, the police chief said. A manhunt had been launched to find Irshad’s in-laws, who remained at large, he added.
Last week 16 year-old Zeenat Bibi was killed in Lahore by her mother for marrying a man of her own choice in a case that sparked condemnation throughout the country. It was swiftly followed by another killing, of a couple in Lahore who married without their family’s consent.
On Thursday relatives slit the throat of a young mother who was pregnant with her second child after she married against their will in Buttaranwali. On Sunday a young girl was killed by her brother for insisting on marrying the man of her choice in Sialkot.
A film on honor killings in Pakistan won an Oscar for best documentary short in February. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif vowed to eradicate the “evil” amid publicity for the film but as yet no fresh legislation has been tabled.