Demanding that the federal government should make changes in the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) to declare murders under karo kari (honour killings) as “non-compoundable crime”, the Sindh government has decided to create a separate police force for eliminating this menace in the province. A private resolution moved in this regard by Pakistan Muslim League-Functional (PML-F)’s Nusrat Saher Abbasi was unanimously passed on Tuesday by the provincial legislative house, after Sindh Home Minister Manzoor Wasan informed the assembly members that the government has already set up a separate investigation unit in the police department, while a new force will also be formed to tackle culprits involved in karo kari.
He said if nobody turns up for the registration of an FIR of such cases, it will be registered by the state.
Wasan said that around 197 incidents of karo kari were reported in the province throughout the year, and police took action in at least 189 of them.
Earlier, Abbasi said she wanted the murder of women under the pretext of karo kari to be made culpable homicide. “At least 43 women have been killed in the province under the pretext of honour killing in December alone. This figure goes up to 577 throughout the year,” she added.
Sindh Culture Minister Sassui Palijo also endorsed Abbasi, saying that male police officers do not give due importance to these cases. Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Sardar Ahmed and Pakistan People’s Party leader Senior Education Minister Pir Mazharul Haq said no leniency should be shown to the culprits involved in karo kari cases. Jam Tamachi Unnar, a PPP lawmaker and Public Accounts Committee chairman, stressed the need for promoting literacy among the masses as nobody from the female victim’s relatives comes forward to file these cases.
As it was a private members’ day, the House could only pass one resolution out of the total five listed on the agenda.
A private bill moved by the National People’s Party’s Arif Mustafa Jatoi was taken up, but rejected with a majority vote. It pertained to amending the Sindh Provincial Assembly (Members) Privileges Bill. Jatoi wanted a legal provision provided to the members of the assembly for displaying number plates on their vehicles with ‘MPA’ written on them.
