This tragic case has once again brought attention to what are commonly referred to as “honor killings” in Pakistan. The father admitted to killing his daughter when she refused to remove her videos off the famous platform, according to police reports that were cited by worldwide media on Friday….CONTINUE FULL READING
Police said the girl’s dad had requested that she remove her TikTok account. Upon her denial, he took her life. On Tuesday, a murder took place, and at first, the family tried to pass the crime off as a suicide, according to investigators.
But more questions led to the father’s confession and jail. Regarding women’s right to free speech and their participation in online communities, the case has rekindled both domestic and global outrage about the long-standing problem of honor-based violence in Pakistan.
Regulatory authorities in Pakistan have threatened to prohibit TikTok on the grounds that it promotes “immoral” content, despite the fact that the app has become a popular means of expression among Pakistani youth, particularly young women.
This occurrence is not unique. In unrelated news, a man whose advances she had refused on social media allegedly killed 17-year-old social media personality Sana Yousaf last month.
Another father came clean earlier this year about the murder of his daughter, who was fourteen years old, for reasons identical to these, stating that her social media posts had brought shame on the family. Just in 2022, there were 384 honor killings according to data from Pakistan’s Human Rights Commission.
On the other hand, human rights groups estimate a far larger figure. More than a thousand women and girls are killed every year in Pakistan, according to a 2019 Human Rights Watch report, with the justification of protecting family “honor.”
Perpetrators are able to evade severe punishment, particularly when family members opt to “forgive” the accused, due to cultural norms, lax legal enforcement, and loopholes, even if the practice is increasingly condemned….CONTINUE FULL READING