97 women killed for ‘honour’ in five months

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly was informed on Monday that 90 women had been killed in the name of honour in Punjab and seven in the NWFP during the first five months of the current year.

Figures provided to the assembly in response to a question showed that the number of cases of torture against women in the two provinces stood at 3,183 between January and May, 2009. During the same period, 299 women were killed in Punjab and 74 in the NWFP in cases of domestic violence. There were 11 cases in which acid was thrown on women in Punjab. Six cases of Vanni were reported in Punjab and three in NWFP.

An astounding number of 749 cases of rape, 57 of gang rape and five of incest were reported in Punjab, while in the NWFP the number of rape cases was 10, gang rape 3 and incest 1.

In cases of harassment at the workplace, 57 women were sexually assaulted in Punjab (none in NWFP), while 22 women suffered physical violence in the NWFP but no such cases were reported in Punjab.
Source: Dawn
Date:8/11/2009