Around 77 percent of honour killing cases ended in acquittal of the accused, a pilot study on "Honour Killing in Pakistain and Compliance of Law" revealed.The study report was launched by Aurat Foundation's Legislative Watch Programme for Women Empowerment, stressing the need for a consolidated plan of action to ensure implementation of the law against honour killing.
The author of the report, Maliha Zia, said that lack of data from courts, categorisation of First Information Reports (FIRs) and reluctance of the people to comment on honour killings were the main reasons affecting the implementation of the law.
The study showed that a lot of cases were highlighted in the media but were not reported with the police, and even if registered, not classified as honour killing.
The language used in the FIRs was not gender sensitive, she said, adding that courts usually gave decisions against the victims by using the provision of 'grave and sudden provocation'. Maliha said that another factor which hindered the compliance of law was the fact that most of the 'honour' crimes were committed by family members, the `unwillingness' of the family to lose another family member ended most of the cases in forced compromise.
She said the institutions concerned also lacked the commitment for implementation of the law. Commenting on the implementation of the law, Aurat Foundation Chief Operating Officer Naeem Ahmed Mirza stressed the need to look into the hurdles in the implementation of the law against honour killings, which was passed in 2004.