BADIN: A man in Badin turned himself in after axing his wife to death over ‘honour’ on Wednesday.
The suspect, identified as Mohammad Shareef, told the police he had suspected his wife, 38, mother of 10 children, of having illicit relations with another man.
Witnesses said that they saw the deceased running out her house crying for help and the suspect following her with an axe in his hands. Later, they said, he attacked her with the axe, killing her on the spot.
The body was sent to the hospital for an autopsy.
ASI Mohammad Salim Khoso told the media that they would proceed in the matter as soon as the autopsy report was available.
Earlier in November last year, an honour-based crime was reported from Karachi where a couple was killed because they had married without the consent of their families.
As many as five suspects, including father and uncle of the deceased man, were later arrested.
Scores of women are killed in the name of honour by their relatives every year. Despite latest pro-women laws passed after years of efforts by activists seeking equal rights and protection from harm for both women and men, the incidence of such crimes has not seen a radical decline.
A reason given by activists for the failure of these laws to curb such crimes is the discretionary power given to the judge to decide whether a particular crime is a crime of honour. Activists say that the procedures associated with investigation and prosecution of honour-based crime need to be made more rigorous.
Published in Daily Times, March 15th 2018.
