These women were given in marriage to hostile families as compensation for a relative’s crime in a practise called “swara.” Although officially outlawed in Pakistan, the custom prevails. “Swara is a virtual death penalty for young women who become victims of this tradition,” said Kamila Hayat, joint director of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).
Hayat added, “Even in cases where they are not physically killed, the humiliation and misery they face, sometimes for an entire lifetime, is a terrible punishment. It is made all the worse by the fact that the women concerned are of course not guilty of any crime.”
Swara was originally meant to stop decades of old blood feuds between two clans, with the aim to resolve conflicts and to stop further killings. The jirga, or village council, orders the family of the aggressor to send a bride to the aggrieved family. Sometimes girls, just a few months old, are given as “blood money” and married once they reach adulthood. At times, girls are purchased from another family in cases when there are no women in the aggressor’s family.
It is believed that the children of such unions could help keep peace between feuding families. Whether this happens or not, the girl taken in swara bears the brunt of it all and is forced into a life of near slavery. Such could be the case of the two women who were murdered.
Yasmeen Hassan, author of “The Haven Becomes Hell: A Study of Domestic Violence in Pakistan,” writes, “The concepts of women as property and honour are so deeply entrenched in the social, political, and economic fabric of Pakistan that the government, for the most part, ignores the daily occurrences of women being killed and maimed by their families.”
Under the present law, if a swara victim files a complaint with the police, her father could be arrested, and this stops the victims from speaking up and filing complaints.
Justice Dr. Fida Mohammad Khan of the Federal Shariat Court (a parallel court system that takes up cases in the light of Islamic jurisprudence) said, “Islam prescribes that a punishment should be punitive, retributive, reformative, and act as a deterrent. Swara doesn't have any of these features. The criminal goes free, and an innocent girl pays the price.” The whole procedure even violates Islamic matrimonial law which requires that both the man and the woman agree in entering into marriage.
In March 2004, the Law and Justice Commission came out with a draft amendment to Article 366-C of the Pakistan Penal Code, seeking to penalise the act of offering and accepting by way of compensation any child, or woman against her free will. However, the amendment has not yet been passed, this is despite the fact that Pakistan ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990 and the Muslim Family Law itself states that in a marriage, a girl must be at least 16 and must give her consent.
Similarly, the Women’s Protection Bill 2006, which aims to end customs like swara, violence against women, the sale and purchase of women, among others, is also yet to be approved.
Sources:
“Blood Feuds Trap Girls in 'Compensation Marriages'” from Asia Media Forum, posted on April 4, 2006, <http://www.asiamediaforum.org/node/410>.
“Pakistan: The perils of attempting Hudood reform” from Pakistan Christian Post, <http://www.pakistanchristianpost.com/newsviewsdetails.php?newsid=601>.
“Paying a `blood price'” from The Hindu Business Line, posted on September 8, 2006, <http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/life/2006/09/08/stories/2006090800250400.htm>.
“'Swara' Killings in Pakistan Continue” from Inter Press Service News Agency, posted on September 27, 2006, <http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=34896>.
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