Pakistani 17 year old Muslim girl torn apart by ferocious dogs, shot to death in honor killing

Photos go here and here
Dogs kill ‘disloyal’ Pakistani girl
Amir Mir
Tuesday, October 28, 2008

PAKISTAN: In yet another barbaric incident of honour killing in the Khairpur district of the Sindh Province of Pakistan, a 17- year-old girl was avenged for a crime not committed by her. They made her run in front of hungry ferocious hounds, who eventually tore her apart.

Taslim Solangi was made subject to a horrific death for a property dispute between her family elders. As a settlement, a pack of dogs was set free after her.

According to the Khairpur police which has now moved to lodge a murder case against the accused, although she tried hard to run to save her life, the trained dogs kept mauling at her legs and finally when she fell down exhausted, the beasts tore apart her being.

A council of elders or the jirga had announced this punishment for Taslim after she was accused of having ‘illicit relations’ with one Abdul Qayyum of the same vicinity — Khairpur.

However, subsequent police investigations have revealed a whole new story. The police investigations show that Taslim was asked by her uncle to pressurise her father in handing over all his property to the uncle. Upon her refusal, her father was abducted and a false case of adultery was slathered on Taslim.

She was killed in the most heinous way possible in the presence of her father Gul Sher. Days after the killing, Abdul Qayyum, a wealthy fellow was forcefully made to confess to his having illicit relations with the young girl in front of the  jirga, only to justify the honour killing.

Although everyone in the Khairpura area, including the present chief minister of Sindh Syed Qaim Ali Shah and his daughter a sitting member of the National Assembly Nafeesa Shah, belong to the same constituency and know fully well that the dispute had nothing to do with a love affair but only with property, nothing had been done to protect either the girl or her family. The property now belongs to the killers and rest of Gul Sher’s family have disappeared but no action from the police or the authorities has been taken so far.

http://www.kansascity.com/451/story/860379.html
17-year-old Pakistani girl’s death prompts outcry
By ASHRAF KHAN
Associated Press Writer

Shakil Adil
A photo showing Pakistani woman Tasleem Solangi, killed back in March in a rural area of Pakistan’s southern province of Sindh, is held by her mother during a press conference in Karachi, Pakistan, Oct. 27, 2008. Police investigate allegations that a 17-year-old woman was mauled by dogs and shot to death while her father was forced to watch in the latest “honor killing” case to prompt outrage in Pakistan.A Pakistani man says his 17-year-old daughter was mauled by dogs and shot to death in front of him over a land dispute disguised as a so-called “honor killing.”

Female senators staged a walkout from the federal parliament Monday to press for action on better protections for women after a national newspaper published details of Tasleem Solangi’s death.

“How long will women be buried alive and made to face hungry dogs? Women are not given their rights,” opposition lawmaker Semi Siddiqui said.

Ibrahim Solangi, 28, has been in custody ever since Taslim’s death in March and is awaiting trial on murder charges, said Pir Mohammad Shah, the police chief of the Khairpur Mirs district in southern Pakistan. Taslim’s husband was also her first cousin.

Human rights groups say hundreds of women are killed by male relatives every year in Pakistan for alleged infidelity or other perceived slights to the family name, and activists say many more cases go unreported.

In August, a Pakistani lawmaker drew fierce criticism after describing a case in which five women were allegedly buried alive for trying to choose their husbands as the product of “centuries-old traditions” that he would defend.

As in that case, the allegations surrounding the death of Tasleem Solangi remain unproven.

Speaking to reporters in Karachi on Monday, Taslim’s father said he was locked up in his home and forced to watch from a window as dogs chased her and then mauled her when she fell down exhausted. She then was shot, he said.

Gulsher Solangi said the killing was the culmination of a land dispute. He said his nephew had beaten Taslim throughout the five months of their marriage to pressure him to hand over his small farm.

Faced with more threats, Gulsher Solangi said he had fled with his wife and another daughter and abandoned his home.

Zameer Hussain Solangi, the girl’s father-in-law, claimed Monday that his son confessed to the killing under police torture and that the allegation regarding the dogs was “baseless.”

He said a tribal council later declared the dead woman an adulterer and compensated the husband with her jewelry.

The girl’s father claimed that the tribal council, chaired by a local chieftain, declared his daughter an adulterer in May to mask the land-grab and the involvement of others.

Shah, the police chief, said he knew nothing of the alleged land-grab or the dogs and promised to investigate further.

Pakistan’s government, now led by the liberal party of slain former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, has vowed to improve women’s rights in Pakistan. Former President Pervez Musharraf made similar moves, notably watering down rape laws that made it hard for victims to prove their case, despite opposition from hardline Islamic groups.

http://www.ahrchk.net/statements/mainfile.php/2008statements/1743/
PAKISTAN: A girl is mauled by dogs and later killed on the pretext of an honour killing
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AHRC-STM-274-2008
October 26, 2008

A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission

PAKISTAN: A girl is mauled by dogs and later killed on the pretext of an honour killing

In May of this year a Jirga, an illegal tribal court, was held against a girl of 17 years in which she was declared as Kari (having had an illicit relationship with someone). This was done, according to the tribal traditions, to justify her earlier murder by members of her own family. The Jirga was held at Hajna Shah Goth, Ahmedpur, Pir jo Goth, Khairpur Mirs District under the chairmanship of Mr. Sain Allad Dad Solangi, the head of the Solangi tribe of Sindh province.

According to the information, received only recently, after a land dispute, Ms. Taslim Solangi, age 17, was pressured to ask her parents to hand over all their property, including six acres of cultivated land and cattle farms to her uncle. On her refusal the perpetrators abducted her father, Gul Sher and detained him at his younger brother’s house.

At the same location on March 7, 2008, Taslim was subjected to the cruellest possible ordeal. She was made to run before a pack of dogs that bit at her legs until, exhausted, she fell to the ground where they continued to maul her. She was subsequently shot by Zameer Solangi in the presence of her father in order to intimidate him. Also present were Mr. Karim Bux, who is also an uncle of the girl and a councillor in local bodies. It was due to the influence of these persons that the police took no action in the killing and land dispute. Later, in May Mr. Karim arranged a jirga in order to justify the killing and obtain impunity for all his brothers. The Jirga was conducted by Mr. Sain Allah Dad, a powerful land lord of the Pir Jo Goth. Furthermore, Mr. Abdul Qayum, a wealthy person of the area, was fined Rs. 400,000/= and threatened by the killers and the elders of the tribe to confess to the crime of having had an illicit relationship with Tasleem. He was threatened with death if he refused to do so.

In the absence of rule of law and a proper prosecution system the powerful people, who are at the same time representatives of people at different levels, are enjoying impunity and using their power against a very marginal section of the society. The family of Gul Sher has left their house and village and all his property is under the control of killers. However, as stated earlier, the police and people’s representatives have taken no action in their support. The powerful people know that police and law can be purchased at any price so they enjoy the weaknesses of authorities.

The Asian Human Rights Commission urges the government to have a proper investigation into the horrific murder of Ms. Tasleem Solangi on the pretext of honor killing. The dreadful death of this innocent girl was purely for the purpose of grabbing her father’s land. This is yet another example of the use of honour killings in order to settle personal disputes.

The writ of the provincial governments is looking very weak before the powerful and political personalities. The political expediency to get more support from usurpers has weakened the legal systems of the country. The government of Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Gillani should take immediate action in this case.