Sisters allegedly murdered by husbands in Pakistan

Bothammer — Tue, 24 May 2022 20:35:26 +0800

Two sisters with dual Pakistani and Spanish citizenship were allegedly killed by their husbands, uncle and brother in a so-called “honour” killing a day after they were tricked into travelling to Pakistan.

Aneesa Abbas, 24, and Arooj Abbas, 21, were strangled and shot dead on Friday after arriving in the eastern city of Gujrat with their mother, Azra Bibi.

It is understood that, on arrival in Pakistan, the sisters were pressured to help their husbands, who they were forced to marry last year, apply for spouse visas so they could travel to Europe.

It is alleged Aneesa and Arooj were killed when they refused to help. Both women wanted to divorce their husbands, who were also their cousins, so that they could remarry in Spain.

“The investigations have confirmed that both the sisters were killed in the name of ‘honour’,” said investigating police officer Muhammad Akhtar.

Police said the women’s husbands, Hassan Aurengzeb and Atiq Hanif, their uncle, Hanif Goga, and their brother, Shehryar Abbas, have been arrested and confessed to the killing. Two other men have been arrested in connection with the attack.

Hundreds of women are murdered by family members in Pakistan each year in so-called “honour” killings for violating conservative norms governing women’s relationships, despite 2016 legislation ending the loopholes in the law that allowed culprits to walk free in the country’s deeply patriarchal society.
Earlier that year, the murder of Qandeel Baloch, known as “Pakistan’s Kim Kardashian”, by her brother Waseem Azeem sparked national outrage and demands for changes to the law. Azeem was sentenced to life imprisonment but was acquitted in February this year after his parents pardoned him.

Samar Minallah, a human rights activist, said: “This is yet another brutal murder of innocent girls raised in another culture valuing basic human rights, yet treated like inanimate objects by their own families.”

According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, an independent rights group, more than 470 cases of “honour” killings were reported in the country last year.

It is not uncommon for parents with dual citizenship to force their daughters to marry cousins in Pakistan to secure European visas. A report on forced marriage, published by the UK government in 2020, found almost 40% of cases involved British citizens being taken to Pakistan to marry against their wishes.

In 2016, Samia Shahid, a British Pakistani beautician from Bradford in the north of England, was raped and killed when she returned to Jhelum district after marrying a man from outside the family. She had previously left her first husband, a first cousin from their village in Pakistan. Her ex-husband and father were arrested for her murder. Six years later, the case is ongoing.

Brother allegedly murders model girl in Pakistan

Bothammer — Tue, 24 May 2022 14:58:59 +0800

A fashion model was killed in the name of honour by her brother in a village near Okara. The victim, Sidra Khalid, had come to her home from Faisalabad to celebrate Eid.

The incident took place in village 51R. DPO Faisal Gulzar said that the suspect, Hamza, has been arrested.

The 22-year-old victim worked as a model girl in Faisalabad.

Local residents said her brother Hamza and parents had told her to quit modelling but she had refused to act as per their wish.

When Sidra visited her parents in Okara during Eid holidays, they and her brother reportedly pressured her again to quit modeling, but she did not obey.

She reportedly went inside a room after telling her family that she would leave the house, but her brother Hamza shot her dead.

The suspect fled from the house after the murder.

Reala police station SHO Javed Khan reached the spot after the incident along with is team and shifted the body to a hospital for postmortem.

The police said they were investigating the I incident and had also raided several places to apprehend the suspect after collection evidence from the crime scene.

A case was registered against Hamza on the complaint of the mother of the deceased.

Sources in the family of the deceased told The Express Tribune that Sidra Khalid had four sisters of whom two elder than her are married.

She had completed her graduation. She had done modelling assignments in Islamabad, Karachi and Faisalabad during the past four years.

The suspect, Hamza, is the only brother of five sisters. Their father is a retired inspector of a paramilitary force.

A relative said the family deemed the profession of the deceased as against its traditions.

He said Sidra was visiting her parents’ home after a year to celebrate Eid.

A heated argent over the matter took place during the family gathering, resulting in the fatal shooting.

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Sisters allegedly murdered by husbands in Pakistan

Brother allegedly murders model girl in Pakistan