Pakistani police escort Perveen Bibi, who allegedly killed her own 16-year-old daughter, Zeenat, by burning her alive, as they go to local court in Lahore on June 10. Zeenat was burnt alive by her mother on June 8 after marrying a man of her own choice, police said, the latest in a string of so-called "honur killings" in Pakistan. (Photo by AFP)
A Catholic priest has welcomed the move by Islamic groups in Pakistan to issue an edict denouncing so called "honor killings" as an "un-Islamic act" and an "unpardonable sin."
Father Abid Habib of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Association of Major Religious Superiors, said the Sunni Ittehad Council’s edict is a positive measure but it is overdue.
"It is a good initiative and I hope more people will listen to them," Father Habib told ucanews.com.
"It is about time, they must stop killing their children, only to repent later. Honor killings are becoming a weekly phenomenon in our country and the whole world is condemning it," Father Habib said.
Honor killing, also known as karo kari, is the intentional murder of a family member for bringing shame to the family refusing an arranged marriage.
"On the appeal of Chairman of Sunni Ittehad Council Sahibzada Hamid Raza, 40 muftis (Islamic scholars) have issued a unanimous edict, declaring the murder of women in the name of honor as 'un-Islamic' act and 'unpardonable sin'," said the edict released June 11 by the council, which is an alliance of moderate Sunni groups.
The joint edict said that legitimizing the killing of women in the name of honor is an act of ignorance.
"Burning women alive for love marriage is contrary to Islamic teachings," the edict said, adding Islam permits an adult woman to marry according to her own free will.
"The killing of 1,000 women in Pakistan in one year [2015] is a very alarming and painful issue, and therefore, the government, religious groups, political parties and media should take collective efforts to end this mindless practice," stated the edict.
The persecution of women has nothing to do with Islam, it said.
The edict condemned several recent honor killings in the country, stating that such crimes reflect societal degradation.
Zeenat Bibi, a 17-year-old girl, died after being set on fire allegedly by her own mother in Lahore June 8 for marrying without the family's consent.
Zeenat, who came to meet her family a few weeks after her marriage, was doused with kerosene and set on fire only because she had defied her family to marry a man she was in love with.
Showing no sign of remorse, Zeenat's mother proudly confessed to her crime before media.
Maria Abbasi, a 19-year-old schoolteacher from Punjab province, died June 1 after being tortured and set on fire for turning down a marriage proposal.
Ambreen Riasat,a 16-year-old girl from the northwest province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was strangled and set on fire in April for helping her friend elope from the village to marry of her free will.
The council’s edict also urged the government to toughen up legislation to curb honor killings, which the country's independent Human Rights Commission said claimed the lives of nearly 1,110 women in 2015.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said in February that he would toughen laws to help end the honor killings.
