Another Week, Another “Honor” Killing

This week’s stories reveal how religion is still used to justify violence—often within families, often against women, and too often met with silence.

Unbelief Brief

Recent killings in Pakistan and Iran serve as a reminder of the brutality and cruelty embedded in ultra-conservative Islam. In Pakistan, nine people have been arrested in connection with the murder of 18-year-old Sidra Bibi, including the victim’s father. Sidra was reportedly strangled with a pillow, and an autopsy revealed that she had been tortured before dying. The killing took place “on the orders of a local council of elders,” and members of her family tried to hide the grave they buried her in from authorities. Sidra had reportedly married a man of her choosing, which her family had disapproved of. It is a quintessential honor killing in a country where they happen so frequently, we wrote about one in this newsletter last week.

In Iran, a 25-year-old trans woman was murdered by a relative for attending a family wedding last month. Sogand Pakdel’s uncle reportedly shot her in the head after an initial “warning shot into the air.” Sogand had been threatened by her family prior to the incident and warned not to attend the wedding. The murder reportedly came after “years of abuse, including beatings, abduction and death threats from family members.” Her funeral was a small affair held in “near-secrecy.”

Finally, closing arguments have concluded in the case of two Washington parents accused of an attempted honor killing of their own daughter. The defense has argued, despite video of an attempted strangulation and the testimony of multiple witnesses, that there was no intent of murder from the victim’s parents. Heather Stone, the case’s lead prosecutor, conversely points out that the witnesses’ testimony is unanimous: at the time of the attack, the victim’s “eyes have rolled into the back of her head, her face is pale, her lips are blue.” Her father did not let go until he was forced away by bystanders. The defense insists he was merely trying to take his daughter home. The jury is deliberating but has not yet returned a verdict.

Until next week,

The Team at Ex-Muslims of North America

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