Islamic "Honor Killings"In The UK

[svejk]

Britain grapples with 'honor killing' practice


Colored girls living in Britian not respecting the diversity of the parents and dying as a result.

OXFORD, ENGLAND In the summer of 2004, Manna Begum was in love with Arash Ghorbani-Zarin, a young Iranian studying in the city of Oxford.

Her Bangladeshi parents had arranged for her to be married, but she wanted nothing of it.

Ms. Begum's parents forbade her to see Mr. Ghorbani-Zarin, but she ignored their wishes. Upon discovering in August that she was pregnant, Begum and her
r
boyfriend decided to get married, according to testimony given in an Oxford court last week.

Three months later, Ghorbani-Zarin was killed and Begum's father and brother are now on trial for the murder - apparently the latest in a series of brutal honor killings
to take place in Britain.

"The relationship with the girl brought shame and dishonor on the family," prosecuting lawyer Julian Baughan told the court. "That drove the accused, led by the head of the family, to murder Mr. Ghorbani-Zarin to vindicate the family's honor."

The number of such "honor killings" carried out in Britain is unknown. But in late 2004, British police began reexamining 117 murders to see how many were motivated by honor.

The issue has taken on increased sensitivity since the July 7 bombings in London, which heightened attention on ethnic minority communities and thei
r i
ntegration into British society.

"People feel that this is defining an important part of who they are," says Humera Khan, who advises An-Nisa, a respected Muslim women's group she helped to found in 1985.

"Making them give it up is a difficult process - especially when campaigns against forced marriage are often led by feminist groups who are also often
hostile to religion."

According to Khan, honor killings "are not Islamic at all, but because they are integrated into traditional culture they are seen as something Islamic."

Indeed, the issue may be more cultural than religious, some experts argue.

"People from smaller communities and rural areas have maintained a much stronger sense of traditional dignity and notions of honor - not dissimilar to those of Latin American Catholics," says Haleh Ashfar, a lecturer in politics at the University of York.

"I really don't think that it's a matter of religion - i
t's
about cultures and practices."

"There's huge similarity within all cultures where women are assumed to become property of men on marriage and where the dignity of men is wrapped up in protecting their women," adds Dr. Ashfar, who says that central to the concept of family honor is the idea that only women can dishonor the family.

While "crimes of passion" against wayward spouses occur worldwide according to a 2000 report by
the UN Population Fund, premeditated honor killings originate specifically in Middle Eastern and South Asian countries where they are often both illegal and socially acceptable.

In the UK, most honor killings involve South Asian parents or brothers killing girls whose lifestyles or ambitions they believe bring shame or disgrace upon their entire family. Ghorbani-Zarin's case was unusual in that a man was targeted.

But in Britain, there is an additional dimension to the issue: the desire of minorities to preserve their
distinctiv
e identities, says Khan, who campaigns against forced marriages and honor killings.

"The parents are primarily worried that their daughter will marry someone who will change their whole way of life," she explains.

For Britain's Muslims, turning in growing numbers to conservative interpretations of Islam, imposing traditional roles on women is often a convenient way assert a non-Western identity by pointedly rejecting Western lifestyles and values.

Like the wear
ing of headscarves, itself not specifically required by the Koran, the idea of woman's honor has become politicized and is increasingly seen as a convenient benchmark measure of a person's level of assimilation and adoption of Western values.

And under increased public scrutiny and suspicion following the London bombings, many British Muslims are suspicious of any government policies that might undermine their religious identity. Many see investigations into honor killings as an implied cr
iticism of thei
r faith.

"A tiny percentage of the community carries out honor killings," says Khan.

"It's just like the bombings - Muslims see a lot of police resources get put into [honor killings] and then say why is nothing done about Islamophobic attacks? This gives the community a feeling of double standards."

"There's a perception that the community is under threat and that they have to defend people they don't agree with," says Abdul-Rahman Malik, contributing editor of Muslim Magazine Q News.


"They feel that this is not the time to be critical [of other Muslims]."

To tackle honor killings effectively the police will have to win the trust of often insular immigrant communities, and they are keen to show that they can tackle the crimes without being seen to criminalize the innocent majority.

"We've been unaware," admitted Cmdr. Andy Baker, launching an honor crimes task force last year. "
We've been igno
rant of the crimes going on."

 

[Johnny99]

Paki Parents Accused Of Honour Killing In Death Of Daughter

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=506814&in_page_id=1770 'Arranged marriage' girl found in river had been 'smothered or strangled'
Last updated at 18:16pm on 8th January 2008

Tragic: Shafilea Ahmed's badly decomposed body was found in a river​

​

The most likely cause of death of a teenage girl whose badly decomposed body was found in a river was smothering or strangulation, a pathologist said today.

Dr Alison Armour told an inquest in Kendal, Cumbria, that it was "not credible" that 17-year-old Shafilea Ahmed died of natural causes.

Shafilea disappeared four months after a family trip to Pakistan during which she drank bleach after being introduced to an arranged marriage suitor.

Police launched a murder inquiry after her body was discovered by workmen close to the flooded River Kent at Sedgwick, near Kendal, in February 2004.

Earlier in the day, her father had told the hearing that he was "surprised" when she went missing from home.

Iftikhar Ahmed described her as a "bright child" but "problems arose" when she began her sixth form studies.
The student was last seen on September 11, 2003 at the home in Warrington she shared with her parents, three sisters and younger brother.

Opening the inquest, South Cumbria Coroner Ian Smith asked Mr Ahmed to confirm his daughter's personal details.

Mr Smith then asked him what kind of person she was.

Mr Ahmed replied: "She was a very normal child, very bright."

The coroner questioned him on whether he had any difficulties with her.

Family: Shafilea's mother Farzana, father Iftikhar (middle) and friend Sultan Mahmood arrive for her inquest​

"Not up to secondary school," Mr Ahmed said.

"The problems arose when she went into the sixth form."

He added that Shafilea did not explain directly to him why she was leaving home.

The family did not suspect her of doing anything wrong while she was in the sixth form, he said.

Mr Smith said: "When she went missing, was that a surprise to you?"

"Yes," replied Mr Ahmed.

He said his daughter's ambition was to become a solicitor and he encouraged her in her studies and was proud of her achievements.

Mr Ahmed and his wife, Farzana, were arrested on suspicion of her kidnap in December 2003 and later released on police bail.

Five other relatives - believed to be based in the Bradford area, where Shafilea was born - who were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice, were also released on police bail.

No-one has been charged with her murder and her parents, who offered a £5,000 reward to catch her killer, have always maintained they had nothing to do with her death.

Police released song lyrics written by the teenager which referred to a clash of cultures and her family's preoccupation with "honour".

Mr Ahmed will give his full evidence later in the inquest.

The hearing continues.

 

[Johnny99]

Teenage bride murdered by arranged husband was 'kicked, stamped on or punched'​

Last updated at 14:51pm on 8th January 2008
A young woman who was beaten to death by her husband suffered multiple injuries to her ribs which were probably caused by "hard kicks, stamps or very hard punches", a pathologist told a jury today.

Professor Archibald Malcolm was giving evidence at the trial of four relatives of Shazad Khan, 25, who was found guilty last year of murdering his new wife, 19-year-old Sabia Rani, at the home where they all lived in Leeds.

Khan's mother Phullan Bibi, 52, two of his sisters, Uzma Khan, 23, and 28-year-old Nazia Naureen, and Naureen's husband Majid Hussain, also 28, are accused of failing to do anything to help Ms Rani.

Beaten to death: Sabia Rani was repeatedly attacked by Shazad Khan (right)​

'Family turned a blind eye' as teenage bride was beaten to death by arranged husband

Today Prof Malcolm, who is a leading expert on bone fractures, took a jury at Leeds Crown Court through the many fractures which were found on Ms Rani's ribs, which were at various states of healing.

Asked how the injuries were most likely caused, the pathologist said: "I think these rib fractures are most likely caused by very hard blows to the chest.

"These hard blows were likely to be hard kicks, stamps or very strong punches."

The professor told the jury he could not exclude the possibility that each of the many breaks could have been caused by Ms Rani falling on to a hard surface with a sharp edge, such as a low table.

But he said this would have had to be done on a number of occasions.

Asked what his analysis could tell him about the number of "episodes" of fracturing, he said: "I believe there are three episodes of trauma here.

"One around about three weeks prior to death, one about two weeks prior to death and a further episode of trauma 12 hours or less prior to death."

The jury has heard Ms Rani suffered injuries similar in severity to those suffered by someone in a serious road accident.

She had bruising to 90 per cent of her body.

Yesterday, Simon Myerson QC, prosecuting, told the court that medical evidence showed Ms Rani must have been in severe pain and very ill in the weeks before her death.

But Mr Myerson said the four defendants, who all lived in the same house in Oakwood Grange, Roundhay, in Leeds, did not help her.

Instead, he told the jury, some later blamed her injuries on evil spirits and curses.

Mr Myerson told the jury that Ms Rani had been brought up in rural Pakistan and did not speak English.

She came to England only five months before she died and was not allowed out of the house without a member of her husband's family.

All four defendants deny a charge of allowing the death of a vulnerable adult. Khan and Hussain also deny committing perjury at the murder trial last year.