Two women killed for honour, brothers suspected

Police in a district of Sindh province probing a case on Sunday in which it suspected that the brothers of the two sisters poisoned them in an incident of honour killing. The investigation began after police were informed in Shikarpur district that two sisters Rukhsana and Husna were allegedly buried by their brothers after they were murdered. The killing was the result of the honour killing locally known as “karo kari” in which the male members of the family kill their women dependents when they suspect the women were involved in an affair. Senior police officer Faizullah Korejo said that they were trying to arrest the two brothers who were the residents of village Faqir Khakharni and after alleged murder the fled. The police could not recover the bodies of the two sisters as well because the burial place unknown, he said. On the run The two men with whom the two women were involved were also on the run as traditionally the male lovers have also been liable to death under the tradition of “karo kari”. The press report said that in past one month alone 35 people including 18 women were murdered in the name of honour killing in the districts of Jacobabad and Kashmor adjacent to Shikarpur district. In 2011 about 700 women and girls were murdered in the honour killing cases in the province of Sindh, They included at least 71 victims under the age of 18. There were 791 honour killings the previous year, with incidents of this practice showing no sign of decreasing. Some victims were raped or gang raped before being killed, a report of a rights group said. At least 19 were killed by their sons, 49 by their fathers and 169 by their husbands. Despite some progress on better protecting women’s rights, activists say the government needs to do far more to prosecute murderers in cases largely dismissed by police as private, family affairs.