Pakistan Passes Stricter ?Honor Killing? Laws
By Alec Siegel | October 7, 2016
Honor killing: a fatal oxymoron, especially considering the killer and the killed are usually blood kin. In Pakistan (and other cultures as well), such a practice exists?husbands, brothers, and fathers sometimes murder wives, sisters, and daughters who have lost their purity. Justice has often evaded these incidents, as family members can forgive the perpetrator, absolving him of any legal punishment. But on Thursday, Pakistan?s Parliament passed a law that should change that: it closed a loophole that let killers off the hook and mandates a minimum 25-year sentence. Family members still have the ability to pardon a death sentence, but not a life sentence. ?Honor killings are a cancer in our society. This law is being presented against this cancer,? said Naveed Qamar, a member of the Pakistan People?s Party, which helped push the bill...
By Alec Siegel | October 7, 2016
Honor killing: a fatal oxymoron, especially considering the killer and the killed are usually blood kin. In Pakistan (and other cultures as well), such a practice exists?husbands, brothers, and fathers sometimes murder wives, sisters, and daughters who have lost their purity. Justice has often evaded these incidents, as family members can forgive the perpetrator, absolving him of any legal punishment. But on Thursday, Pakistan?s Parliament passed a law that should change that: it closed a loophole that let killers off the hook and mandates a minimum 25-year sentence. Family members still have the ability to pardon a death sentence, but not a life sentence. ?Honor killings are a cancer in our society. This law is being presented against this cancer,? said Naveed Qamar, a member of the Pakistan People?s Party, which helped push the bill...