Although religion can be a positive part of an individual’s life in providing solace and structure to their existence, there have been many unjust and inhumane actions committed by people who abide by a rigid and extremist interpretation of their faith. One example of this is the phenomenon known as ‘honor killing.’ A verdict delivered in the United Kingdom on August 3rd condemned two parents who were accused of murdering their seventeen year old daughter in 2003 in an attempt to preserve their family’s honor.

Honor killings in the Western world often occur when a family emigrates from a primarily Islamic society and finds itself surrounded in a cultural environment that is often completely antithetical to its own. In this scenario the parents attempt to maintain their traditional customs and instill identical values in their offspring. However, the children of immigrants are influenced by the society in which they live, sometimes choosing to stray from traditional beliefs in favor of their new home. When parents have extremist religious leanings there is a good chance that the independent-mindedness of their children, especially female children, will not be accepted.

One of the most chilling things about honor killings is that they are not irrational. In fact, it is just the opposite- honor killings are hyper rational. In almost all societies, the woman is seen as the gateway into the family- she bears the children and to a large extent she is responsible for teaching them how to live their life. If a woman chooses a lifestyle that is frowned upon or a partner who is not satisfactory to the family, she is not only damaging her own reputation, but that of the entire family. What’s more, her bad values will be passed on to the next generation! It is this kind of rationale that pushes an individual or a group to consider killing someone in their own family.

In the case transpiring in the UK, a teenage girl named Shafilea Ahmed was murdered by her parents through asphyxiation. A plastic bag was shoved down her throat so she could not breathe, and when she was dead her parents disposed of her body in a river, only to be found six months later. However, the grieving parents weren’t considered as prime suspects for a substantial period of the investigation.

It was the action of Shafilea’s sister Alesha which opened the case. She had stated that her parents were angry with Shafilea for adopting Western customs such as wearing makeup and talking to boys. They flew her to Pakistan to reinforce the values they wanted her to pursue, and tried to arrange a marriage for her. Shafilea was so distraught with this action that she drank bleach in an attempt to kill herself. She was taken back to Britain after the incident and spent eight weeks in a hospital. Even before this trip there were signs of trouble in the Ahmed home. Shafilea wrote a letter to the local authorities stating that she was suffering from domestic violence and requesting to be put in another home.

The night Shafilea was murdered she got into an argument with her parents because she wore a short sleeved V-neck shirt. According to Alesha, the violence ensued despite the fact that the family’s other children were in the home. Alesha also testified hearing her mother, Farzana Ahmed, say ‘just end it’ to her husband before the murder took place.

After nine years of turmoil, the case was finally closed. Shafilea’s parents, Farzana and Iftikhar Ahmed, were sentenced to life in prison, with eligibility for parole after twenty-five years. In his ruling, Chester Crown Court Judge Roderick Evans told the Ahmeds that "Shafilea understood and appreciated the cultural heritage from which she came, but an expectation that she live in a sealed cultural environment separate from the culture of the country in which she lived was unrealistic, destructive and cruel’ and ‘your concern about being shamed in your community was greater than your love of your child.’

With the conviction of the parents, there is a hope that more women come forward and admit to being persecuted by their families since there is evidence that the criminal justice system is on their side. According to the United Nations Population Fund, over five thousand people are killed every year because of perceived familial shame. Hopefully Shafilea’s case will set a precedent for protecting the rights of children and for preventing future honor killings.

For more information:

Honor Killings: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honour_killing

Murder of Shafilea Ahmed: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Shafilea_Ahmed