Arranged marriages are still common in countries such as India and Pakistan. The desirability of marriage between a bride and groom is decided by each family on the basis of the other family’s status, religion, and wealth. Often, economic considerations have been the primary importance. In these cultures commitment comes first above all and if the bride runs away and gets killed by her family, the family’s action is considered an ‘honor killing.’
I found an article published on April 4, 2013 about a Pakistani girl struck by axe 15 times for escaping arranged marriage. Gul Meena was married at the age of 12 against her will to a 60 years old man and constantly suffered from physical abuse by her husband. Inevitably after 5 years of marriage Gul took to running away with a young Afghan man. According to their culture, running away from the husband with another man is an ultimate crime according to strict Islamic customs. After few days, Gul’s brother went after them and hacked the man to death with an axe and almost killed his sister by hitting her 15 times too. The brother believed that Gul was dead but fortunately she didn’t and received big surgeries. For now, Gul’s brother has yet to be apprehended whilst her family denies that he tried to kill Gul.
We rarely hear about these features going on. There are actually thousands of women living in shelters across Afghanistan and many of them are victims of attempted ‘honor killings.’ They had been disowned by their family and the government and authorities wants nothing to do with them due to the stigma and circumstances surrounding them. According to the U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, there has been over the 20% increase in civilian casualties among women and girls in Afghanistan in 2012.
Eun Jee Lee
April 7,2013 1:27am
source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/04/world/asia/afghanistan-honor-killing-survivor/index.html?hpt=hp_c3
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