Pakistan stiffens penalty for 'honor' killers
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Pakistani lawmakers on Thursday passed a law that stiffens the penalty for convicted "honor" killers and closed a loophole that often allowed them to go free, in a move aimed at stemming the growing number of such killings.
The bill was passed after a raucous debate that lasted nearly four hours, before finally being passed. "Honor killings are a cancer in our society. This law is being presented against this cancer," said Naveed Qamar, a member of the opposition Pakistan People's Party, a left-of-center party once led by Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated in 2007, some say by Islamic militants.
More than 1,000 women were killed last year in so-called honor killings in Pakistan, often by fathers, brothers or husbands. Such killings are bound up with longtime traditions by which a woman's chastity is vital to the family's honor -- so acts like a woman marrying the man of her choice, meeting a man or even being seen sitting with a man could lead to slayings. But those who carry out such killings are almost never punished. In accordance with Islamic Shariah law, Pakistani law allows the families of victims to forgive the killer. Since the killers in these cases are usually close relatives, the family almost always forgives them.
