Muslim leaders say gender-based violence behind ‘honour killings’

KATHMANDU, JUL 04 -
When 19-year-old Shiva Hashmi of Bardiya was burned alive on December 7 last year by her family members over a love affair with a man her family rejected, the incident received much media attention. Muslim community leaders, however, do not call it an honour killing, although they warn that such incidents might recur if the underlying socio-economic causes are not addressed on time.

“I’m hesitant to call the murder an honour killing because it wasn’t committed to salvage family dignity. It seemed to have been about money. Hashmi’s family is rich but the man she was in love with isn’t,” said Mohana Ansari, spokesperson for the National Women Commission.

Contrary to media reports and the police department that say such killings are on the rise, Ansari rejected the notion that Hashmi’s murder was a religious issue or that cases of ‘honour killings’ in Nepal are rising.

“One of the reasons I refuse to generalise from Hashmi’s case is the lack of study on honour killings in Nepal,” said Ansari, drawing attention instead to gender-based domestic violence in the Muslim community. “Muslim women, like other women in Nepal, face violence at the hands of their family members, especially their husbands. Many are victims of physical violence and repeated threats of divorce and polygamy,” she said. Taj Mohammad Miya, chairman of the National Muslim Federation Nepal, also blames the increasing money-mindedness and prevalent social discrimination against women as primary reasons behind cases like Hashmi’s. “If these aren’t checked on time, such cases will rise,” he warned.

And rising they are, believes Deputy Inspector General of Police Nawaraj Silwal, who labels Hashmi’s murder an honour killing. “For a while now, such cases seem to be on the rise, or are at least being reported to the police. In the last few months, we have received reports of four such cases,” said Silwal.

Silwal blames orthodox views on women as the reason behind such murders. “In the Tarai, some people are plagued with the view that a woman who decides to go against the family is essentially ruining its image and thus deserves a harsh punishment.”

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