
I touched on this story earlier in the week but the story is gaining traction as it gets reported in the world’s newspapers. Here are two reports on the story, first from the New York Times and then from the UK Independent.
The five women were from the village of Baba Kot, Department of Jafferabad, in the province of Baluchistan (southwestern Pakistan) and members of the Umrani tribe. The three young women, all teenagers, had decided to get married before a civil court in the town of Usta Mohammad, going against decision by members of their tribe. The two other women, who were older, were members of their families.
According to information collected by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH — a French based group) affiliated league in the country, their plan was discovered, and on and July 13, 2008, the five women were reportedly captured and transported in a car with provincial government plates to the desert by several men, including Mr. Abdul Sattar Umrani. the younger brother of Sadiq Ali Umrani, the Minister for Housing in the Baluchistan provincial government and a member of the ruling party. Having struck three of the young women, the men opened fire on them, seriously wounding them but not killing them outright. They then covered their bodies with earth and stones, while they were still alive. The two other older women, aged 45 and 38, were then also buried alive for trying to help and rescue the teen-aged victims.
This is Pakistan. Honour killings in Pakistan number in the hundreds annually. Women are buried alive, hanged, stoned or simply beaten to death. Add to this over 3,000 women annually who are defaced and scarred with acid or burnt with kerosene oil. Young girls are often sold by their parents into slavery, sometimes in public. Beyond that there is just simply what’s more common throughout the world, widespread domestic violence.
As I noted earlier, the killings have been defended by politicians from Baluchistan. Reacting to a female colleague’s attempt to raise the issue in parliament, Israrullah Zehri said such acts were part of a “centuries-old tradition” and he would “continue to defend them”. That only sparked further outrage with various women’s groups taking to the streets demanding action against “a heinous crime against humanity”.
Below the fold a report on the state of women’s rights in Pakistan. (more…)