Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
and Police
@ Copyright
Barrister Abdul Khalique Shaikh
Printed by:
Masmedia
2D-1/16, Siddique House,
Nazimabad # 2, Karachi.
Foreword ix
Executive Summary 01
Chapter 1 07
Introduction 10
Methodology 10
Honour Killings in Sindh 11
Statistics on Honour Killings 11
Analysis of official figures 13
Unofficial figures on Honour Killings 15
Chapter 2 19
Chapter 3 27
iii
Chapter 4 39
Chapter 5 51
Legislative Response 53
Bibliography 57
Annexure 59
Questionnaire for Police Officers 61
(Honour killings study)
iv
Acronyms
SP Superintendent of Police
v
Acknowledgements
vi
Message
The Sindh Police has been cognizant of the fact that sincere
and concerted efforts are needed to end violence against
women ranging from domestic violence to killings in the
name of honour. A number of steps have been taken to
improve police response to the violence against women.
Human Rights cells have been setup at district level to deal
with cases of violations of human rights, more women police
stations are being set up to encourage women victims to come
forward and seek police assistance for redressal of their
complaints, standing operating procedures on dealing with
cases of violence against women, preventing sexual harassment
and handling honour killings have been implemented and a
helpline for women has been setup to create an environment
where women feel safe and better victim support services can
be provided. Above all the Sindh Police has initiated a project
on prevention of honour killings in collaboration with the
vii
Gender Justice Unit, UNDP. This study was also conducted
as one of the activities of the project. I am confident that this
study will form the basis on which various districts of Sindh
Police will formulate and implement well thought out strategy
to effectively prevent or significantly reduce incidents of
killings in the name of honour.
viii
Foreword
Though this is not the first study on honour killings but most of
the studies give perspective of a human rights activist only. This
study inter alia, critically evaluates police handling of the honour
killing cases and not only identifies the problem but puts forward
good practice guidelines to be followed by the police officers.
ix
I appreciate commendable efforts made by Mr. Abdul Khalique
Shaikh and his team for undertaking the study and
implementing the project on prevention of honour killings as
focal person of the project. I hope the project will go a long
way in reducing the incidents of honour killings, creating
awareness about the issue and bringing culprits to the book
by prompt and professional police response.
x
About the Project
xi
Objectives of the training workshop at District level include
to give general awareness to the Police officers about concepts
of human rights; to make them familiar with the international
Human Rights standards for law enforcement officers;
sensitization of the trainees on violence against women, its
gravity, psychological and sociological aspects and police
responsibilities and improvement in investigation of honour
killings and overall capacity building of the officers in the
field of crime investigation.
Sobhya Agha
Project Officer
Prevention of Karokari project
Sindh Police and UNDP
xii
Executive
Summary
5
The problem of honour killings has to be addressed by a
befitting response by various institutions. One important part
of the solution involves legislative response. The legislation
should be aimed at eliminating discriminatory aspects of laws;
plugging in loopholes in the existing laws which provide the
accused opportunities to get away after playing direct or
indirect role in commission of crimes in the name of honour.
Additionally the amendments in the laws may ensure stringent
punishments for the criminals including specified minimum
mandatory sentence. The laws should be modified to ensure
the side characters involved in the murders in the name of
honour should also be held accountable. Those involved in
conducting faislas or jirgas, deciding on custody of the potential
victim of killing should also be brought to justice.
6
Honour Killings In Sindh
Chapter 1
Honour Killings In Sindh
Introduction
9
Methodology:
Literature on various aspects of honour killings in general
and dynamics of killings in the name of honour in the province
of Sindh in particular were reviewed. Various secondary
sources including books, journals, research studies and human
rights organization’s bulletins were referred to ascertain the
causes and forms of honour killings. Questionnaires were
filled by police officers of various ranks involved in
investigation of crimes to get their perception about these
killings and the way they conduct the investigations. These
questionnaires were given to the police officers serving in the
three districts, Sakhar, Khairpur and Shaikarpur, know for
higher incidents of honour killings.
Data was collected from police stations of the province to
find out the number of incidents every year. The figures were
collected for five years from 2004 to 2008. The Proforma for
data collection was designed with a view to get separate
figures for the male and female victims and relationship of
the victim and the accused. The data so collected was
quantitatively analyzed. These figures were compared to study
the year-wise trends in honour killings and compare the
number of male victims and female victims. Databases
maintained by the NGOs were also referred to for collection
and compilation of data. In this connection data compiled by
the Madadgar project and Aurat Foundation were specifically
studied. These figures were compared with the officially
tabulated data on honour killings.
The police case files and papers pertaining to the high profile
cases were qualitatively analyzed to evaluate the quality of
investigation and point out common flaws in the police
investigations of killings in the name of honour.
10
Honour Killings In Sindh
1
Amnesty International Report 2004 p/181
2
Source: crime figures compiled by the Sindh Police Department.
11
Statistics on honour killings:
13
S.# Year Women killed Men Killed Total Killed
1 2004 79 51 130
2 2005 72 39 111
3 2006 89 44 133
4 2007 73 33 106
5 2008 110 42 152
Total (five years) 423 209 632
(Source: figures compiled by the Sindh Police Department)
For the purposes of the present study the reliance was made
not on the official statistics alone but the data was collected
from two NGOs namely Aurat Foundation and Madadgar
Helpline. The figures collected from the Aurat Foundation
15
Karachi pertaining to murder of men and women in the name
of honour are presented in the following table:
17
Honour Killings In Sindh
Chapter 2
Forms and Causes of
Honour Killings
Forms and Causes of
Honour Killings
21
who has blackened their tribe and the man responsible for
that act. However, the killing may be result of an illicit
relationship or mere suspicion or in some cases nothing more
than a misunderstanding. Various forms of honour killings
are summarized here:
24
not be exaggeration to say that since the perpetrators have
been getting away with the murders either by manipulating
loopholes in the laws, influencing and managing the police
investigations or through jirgas, there are hardly any examples
to deter the would be killers from commission of such horrific
crimes.
25
Honour Killings In Sindh
Chapter 3
Police and
Honour Killings
Police and
Honour Killings
29
aware of the fact that most of the killings in the name of
honour use honour as a pretext but the real motive is some
other reason. The top three reasons behind these fake honour
killings mentioned by the respondents were property dispute,
matrimonial problems and settling score with an enemy.
30
Police investigations of honour killings:
31
in the court the prosecution cases lose ground and it becomes
impossible to get the offenders convicted. In most of the cases
the principal accused involved in the murder confesses before
the police officer that he had killed the victims to restore
honour to his family. However, in accordance with the Evidence
Act the confession before a police officer is inadmissible in
the court of law. The police, thereby, cannot rely on the
confession in the court. For these reasons the perpetrators of
honour killings are rarely convicted during trial.
32
Solangi was murdered on 6th of March 1998. Her husband
surrendered before the police who was arrested and a weapon
of offence was recovered from him. The police challaned just
one accused and the case was closed. Subsequently, the
complainant of the FIR who happened to be his uncle and
other witnesses to the incident and recovery of weapon resiled
from their earlier statements to facilitate his acquittal. When
the case was reopened and the investigation team broadened
the circle of the investigation those involved in aiding, abetting,
conspiring, destroying evidence, concealing the design to
murder and facilitating commission of her murder by illegal
omission were also held responsible and as many as 18 accused
were booked by police and sent up for trial. These included
principal offenders, their facilitators, those responsible for
taking and handing over her custody against her wish, those
who conducted jirga, those not involved in execution of the
crime but had reasons to know that their actions could result
into Tasleem being killed and police officers who did not
conduct the investigation with due diligence and caused the
destruction of important evidence related to the crime. The
lady doctor who gave a manipulated report without conducting
post-mortem was also brought to justice.
34
deep into the conspiracy. Where the honour killing is not
handiwork of one person various family members or fellow
tribesmen may be involved in the joint criminal enterprise.
Besides the principal offender (s) several persons may be
involved in conspiring, aiding, abetting or concealing the
crime. The investigating officers rarely distinguish the killing
in the name of honour from ordinary murders 8. In an ordinary
murder the complainant will try to name all the characters
involved in the murder either directly or indirectly. He will
like to choose dependable witnesses who can testify in the
court against the accused. The complainant will vigorously
pursue the investigation and its outcome and follow its progress
during trial. Contrary to this the complainant of an honour
killing is more likely to abort or frustrate the entire trial
process by his non-cooperation with the prosecution and
supporting the defendant’s case in the court.
8
Please see findings of the survey above.
35
arrest the man accused of abduction. Even if the local police
refuse to register F.I.R the so called complainant can manage
an order for registration of F.I.R from the district court under
S.22-A of the Cr.P.C. When such a couple is traced out the
man is arrested and the girl is pressurized by the family to
consent to be given in custody of her father or brothers.
36
of their rights. Women police desks and human rights cells
have been established in selected districts to address the
women-specific issues requiring police intervention. Efforts
have been made to increase ratio of female police officers in
the province. Standing Orders for dealing with violence against
women has been issued for strict compliance. Occasionally
police have been assisting the NGOs dealing with cases of
violence against women including those involving killings in
the name of honour. One such project is the Madadgar Helpline
in Karachi funded by the UNDP. In addition to the above
mentioned measures the provincial police chiefs had been
issuing circulars and standing orders requiring the police
officers to assist women in distress.
The Police Order 2002 also laid down specific duties for the
police officers in this regard. Article 3(d) requires a policeman
to aid individuals who are in danger of physical harm
particularly women and children. Article 4(2)(a) expects a
policeman to afford relief to people in distress situations,
particularly in respect of women and children.
37
Chapter 4
Guidelines
41
(vi) To ensure proper reporting of the murders committed in
the name of honour and record authenticated statistics;
Role of SHO:
Role of I.O:
44
(b) The Investigating officer should take all the steps
mentioned above as functions of the first responder to
the scene of crime;
(c) The I.O should collect and preserve all the evidence.
(e) The I.O should make sure that the investigation goes
deep into the circumstances of the incident and its
background,
45
(j) The I.O should keep follow up of the chemical examiner’s
report or expert opinion on other forensic evidence. The
expert opinion should be collected without delay. In case
of any delay on part of the forensic examiners concerned
the matter should be brought into the notice of the senior
officers with a view to expediting the outcome of the
examination;
Role of SPO:
a) The Sub-Divisional Police Officer should play his
supervisory role and will closely monitor the investigation;
Role of SP Investigation:
a) Superintendent of Police investigation is responsible for
close supervision of the honour killing cases
48
Role in preventing honour killings:
a) The DPO, SPO and SHOs should make arrangements
to gather intelligence of incidents which may result into
a pre-meditated honour killings. Particular attention
should be paid to any jirga which is reported to have
established somebody as a kari or karo.
49
Honour Killings In Sindh
Chapter 5
Legislative Response
Legislative Response
53
(vi) The amendments are different stages involved in handling
of the honour killings cases. These legislative response
should attempt to rectify the following issues:
56
Bibliography
57
Annexure
3. Length of service:
(i) ………………..
(ii) ………………..
(iii) …………………
61
12. Are women being killed in the name of honour or it is
mere an issue raised by the media?
62