Around two thousand women are killed each year in Pakistan in the name of so-called “honor.” Most of these cases occur in the southern province of Sindh, where, paradoxically, women are sometimes described as being as sacred as the “Seven Korans,” a phrase meant to express deep respect. Despite this symbolic reverence, violence against women remains widespread. This persists even though Pakistan has had a woman leader, Benazir Bhutto, who served as the country’s elected prime minister, twice.

In just the past week, about ten women have reportedly been killed in the name of honor in Pakistan. Eight of these cases occurred in Sindh, where violence against women has reached alarming levels. The writer Salman Rushdie once described such violence as a form of “sexual terrorism.”

One recent case involved a 22-year-old married woman, Khalida Chandio, from the Khairpur district of Sindh. She left her home at night with a man named Sadam Chandio. By morning, relatives of the man returned her to her family. Khalida was then brought to an open ground before a crowd of villagers. Her arms were held by two individuals, and her 75-year-old maternal relative shot her in the chest. She died on the spot.

Khalida had been married at the age of 13. Her husband, a nationalist political activist, had been forcibly disappeared by Pakistan’s security agencies nine months earlier. Thousands of Pakistani citizens—particularly in Sindhi and Baloch nationalist activists or political opponents—have reportedly been subjected to enforced disappearances since around 2005. Many remain missing, while several bodies have been found showing signs of torture, and mass graves have been discovered in parts of   Sindh and Balochistan. This issue, however, requires separate and detailed story.

Another case involved a 17-year-old woman, Shumaila Chandio, who was killed by her brothers near the town of Hala after she refused to marry a man of their choice.

In Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, a woman named Sidra was killed at a beauty salon while preparing for her wedding. She was stabbed to death by a man who claimed he wanted to marry........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)