Pregnant Woman Stoned for Marrying Man She Loved Farzana Parveen, 25, had 'dishonored' the family by marrying the man she loved without the permission of her family.

In a gruesome testament to the problem of “honor” in Muslim-majority societies, a pregnant woman in Pakistan was stoned to death by about 20 members of her own family. Her “offense” was marrying the man she loved without her family’s approval.

The 25-year old woman, Farzana Parveen, wasn’t just victimized by family members. She was a casualty of the culture of “honor,” where a woman is punished—often fatally—for being seen as “shaming” her family.

The Clarion Project’s newly releaseaed documentary on the topic, titled Honor Diaries, has been seen by an estimated half-million people to date.

“Breaking the code of honor is seen as destroying the ‘name’ of the family, and is deserving of punishment at the discretion of male relatives…Violence is justified and even celebrated, as the perceived act of dishonor is worse than being stoned to death,” explains Zainab Khan, a Muslim activist for women’s rights whose work is highlighted in Honor Diaries.

Parveen’s family pressed charges against her husband, accusing him of having abducted her. She was about to enter a courthouse in Lahore to defend him when her family members fired gunshots and tried to abduct her; the very crime they accused her husband of. Parveen bravely fought back, but the beating escalated and her relatives killed her using bricks.

The common acceptance of this abuse is evident in the response of her father. He was apprehended without resistance, unapologetically stating it was an “honor killing.” The police quoted him as saying: “I killed my daughter as she had insulted all our family by marrying a man without our consent, and I have no regret over it.”

The response in Pakistan was just as troubling as the incident. There was no public outcry. No protests. The Washington Post pointed outthat she was killed “in front of a crowd of onlookers in broad daylight” in a busy part of town. No one intervened, including the police that presumably would be at a courthouse.

According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, a non-governmental organization, honor killings are illegal, but the ban is inadequately enforced. Chairwoman Zohra Yusuf says some violators are arrested, but they are often permitted to escape and few are actually convicted.

Khan pointed out that these “medieval” acts happen “even in a relatively modern country such as Pakistan.” Most people think of these atrocities as being committed by uneducated, poor and backwards communities. Lahore, where the honor killing happened, is actually considered an upscale part of the country.

“As a native of Pakistan, it breaks my heart that human life no longer has any value in my land of birth. The muffled cries of oppressed women are drowned out by the loud rallies of religiosity, while law enforcement agencies stand and watch the witch hunt,” said Raheel Raza, President of the Council for Muslims Facing Tomorrow and one of the stars of Honor Diaries.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan documented 813 honor killings in 2013. Another organization, the Aurat Foundation, puts the number at around 1,000. In 2012, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan recorded 913 honor killings, 99 of which were minors. Some non-Muslims in Pakistan also enforce “honor,” with about seven Hindu and six Christian women being murdered in 2013.

Even in America, honor-based violence is happening more and more frequently. A man in Texas was just indicted for murdering an Iranian activist who he believes encouraged his daughter to marry someone against his wishes.

This follows two other recent incidents. In Arizona, a man tried to rape and murder his wife. When he was arrested, he said it justified by Islamic law. And in Pennsylvania, a man was convicted of murdering his girlfriend after she enraged him by not wearing Islamic dress as he demanded.

The common denominator in all three cases is that the murderer felt he had been dishonored and that his culture and religion justified the punishment.

Cultural relativism and the fear of being seen as judgmental or ethnocentric are preventing a much-needed discussion of the “honor” culture.

As Zainab Khan put it: “Cultural acceptance does not mean accepting the unacceptable. It is about time we put an end to laws and norms that support the violence perpetrated against women in the name of culture or religion.”

http://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/pregnant-woman-stoned-for-marrying-man-she-loved