In Pakistan, the shadow of honor killings looms large, a brutal assault on human dignity that defies legal safeguards and fuels international condemnation. Fresh findings confirm high incidence rates paired with abysmal conviction figures, signaling deep institutional rot.
Detailed in The Express Tribune and sourced from SSDO’s rigorous review, the report transcends isolated tragedies to reveal endemic failure. Media spotlights rare cases, ignoring how compromises, delays, and enforcement gaps perpetuate the slaughter.
Statistics lay bare the injustice: 225 Punjab killings, two convicted. 134 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, two sentences. Sindh’s tally: zero successes. Balochistan’s 32: one win. Women bear 90 percent of this horror, per activist Imran Takker.
‘Strong investigations and prosecution could punish killers, but families often withdraw,’ Takker observes, pinning hope on systemic steeling.
Shabbir Hussain Gigyani, a top lawyer, decries, ‘Weak police dossiers and flip-flopping relative-witnesses doom 80 percent to acquittal.’
SSDO’s Syed Kauser Abbas urges, ‘Ramp up investigations, slash delays, guarantee prompt justice. This conviction drought indicts us all.’
Embedded in patriarchal lore, these acts punish perceived dishonor with death, masquerading as virtue. Pakistan’s path forward demands cultural awakening, empowered policing, and ironclad courts to shatter the silence and deliver true honor through protection, not murder.