Police Officials to be held responsible for Karo-Kari Cases
A single bench of Sind High Court headed by Justice Salahuddin Panhwar, issued verdict that SSP and SHO will be held responsible for murders committed in their districts under the pretext of Karo-Kari.
This judgment came as a result of 100 Constitutional petitions filed by women through their lawyers, demanding protection as their lives were in danger due to their relatives or influential persons. As per these lawyers police fails to implement court orders due to which many eloping couples are often killed. They also stated that women are not even safe in the Darul Amman, as three women were taken out of Larkana Darul Amman one-and-a-half years ago and nobody knows their whereabouts.
The court further ordered the police to provide protection to couples who marry out of their own choice and the women who come to the police for protection against domestic torture. The court made it clear that if any person is killed on the pretext of karo-kari or a jirga is held to resolve karo-kari disputes, the SSP of the district and the SHO of the area will be held responsible.
There is an accelerating number of honour killings taking place throughout Pakistan, the greatest number of such cases being reported from Sindh. In most of these cases close family members are involved in murders hence they often get away with such crimes. No conviction, arrest or accountability takes place as the Karo-Kari is deeply rooted in our customs and rituals. Our law enforcement agencies and law makers need to take concrete steps to curb this heinous offence in order to bring the accused and culprits to justice.
