Friday, May 23, 2008

How picture phones have fuelled frenzy of honour killing in Iraq

The Independent

A dark pool of dried blood and a fallen red scarf mark the place where Ronak, who had fled to a woman's shelter in the Kurdish city of Sulaymaniyah when she was accused of adultery by her husband, was shot three times by a man hiding on the roof of a nearby building.

Ronak was wounded by bullets in the neck, side and leg and only survived after a four-hour operation. She was the latest victim of a huge increase across Iraq in the number of "honour" killings of women for alleged immorality by their own families.

Many are burnt to death by having petrol or paraffin poured over them and set ablaze. Others are shot or strangled. The United Nations estimates that at least 255 women died in honour-related killings in Kurdistan, home to one fifth of Iraqis, in the first six months of 2007 alone.
The murder of women who are deemed to have disobeyed traditional codes of morality is even more common in the rest of Iraq where government authority has broken down since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately, dishonor killings are on the increase not only in Iraq, but globally.

Ellen R. Sheeley, Author
"Reclaiming Honor in Jordan"

William said...

Yes very sad. When I was in Arbil I met a woman's group from the KDP who spoke of the frightening level of "suicide" by women setting themselves on fire with kerosene or petrol. But many of these were murders by dissatisfied family members - often after arranged mariages. A similar situation exists in India of course.