A judge in Lahore just dropped a gavel that echoes across the international press. A man is sentenced to death for the "honour killing" of his wife. The headlines are already pre-written in the West: Justice is served. Pakistan is finally getting tough on femicide.
They are wrong. They are dangerously, lazily wrong.
This sentence isn't a victory. It’s a convenient distraction. When the state hangs one man for a crime that thousands of others commit with impunity every year, it isn't "sending a message." It’s performing a theatrical execution to mask the fact that the entire legal architecture of the country is designed to let these men walk.
If you think a single death sentence fixes the cultural rot of karo-kari or siyah-kari, you aren't paying attention to how the law actually breathes in the courtrooms of Punjab and Sindh.
The Forgiveness Loophole is the Real Killer
The media loves the drama of the "Death Sentence." It sounds final. It sounds like progress. But in Pakistan, the death penalty is often just a high-stakes opening bid in a negotiation.
We need to talk about Diyat and Qisas. Under these Islamic legal principles, which were woven into the Pakistani Penal Code (PPC) during the Zia-ul-Haq era, murder is treated as a private dispute between families rather than a crime against the state.
Here is the brutal math of "honour":
- A brother kills a sister for "shaming" the family.
- The father is the legal "heir" of the victim.
- The father "forgives" his son in the name of God (or for a cash settlement).
- The son walks free.
In 2016, Pakistan passed an anti-honour killing law meant to close this gap by making the state a party to the case, preventing "forgiveness" from resulting in a total acquittal. But look at the data from the last decade. Defense lawyers have simply pivoted. They no longer argue "honour." They argue "sudden provocation" or "self-defense," or they drag the trial out until the witnesses—who are usually family members—mysteriously lose their memories.
One death sentence doesn't change the fact that the legal system still treats a woman’s life as a negotiable asset.
The Myth of the Deterrent
Proponents of the death penalty claim it acts as a deterrent. This is a fairy tale told by people who have never stepped foot in a rural panchayat.
An honour killing is not a crime of passion in the way a bar fight is. It is a communal execution. It is a decision often vetted by elders or cousins to "restore" a social standing that has no price tag. When the entire community believes that killing a woman is more righteous than letting her marry for love, a distant judge in a city like Lahore doesn't scare them.
The state is trying to use a 19th-century punishment to solve a medieval social contract. It fails every time.
Imagine a scenario where the state actually wanted to stop these killings. It wouldn't wait for a body to drop and then hold a hanging. It would dismantle the Jirgas (informal tribal courts) that authorize these murders in the first place. But the state won't do that. Why? Because those tribal leaders deliver votes. It’s easier to hang one man and call it "Justice" than to arrest fifty village elders and call it "Reform."
The "Western Gaze" Trap
International NGOs and human rights groups celebrate these sentences because they fit a Western template of accountability. They want to see a "civilized" court system punishing "barbaric" acts.
This is a trap. By focusing on the sentencing, we stop looking at the investigation.
Pakistan’s conviction rate for murder is abysmally low—often cited around 10-15%. The police are underfunded, undertrained, and often sympathize with the perpetrator. In many cases, the police won't even file a First Information Report (FIR) unless a local activist makes a scene.
When the prosecution actually wins a case like the one in Lahore, it’s usually because the case became too high-profile to ignore. It’s "optics-led justice." The state picks a sacrificial lamb to prove to the UN or the FATF that it’s a modern, functioning legal entity. Meanwhile, in the shadows of the feudal hinterlands, the quiet "forgiveness" deals continue unabated.
Stop Applauding the Gallows
If you want to stop honour killings, stop cheering for the executioner.
Real change doesn't happen at the end of a rope. It happens when:
- The State removes the right of private pardon for all gender-based violence. No exceptions. No "blood money" settlements.
- Police are held criminally liable for failing to protect women who report threats. Most honour killing victims go to the police before they are killed. They are sent back home to their deaths.
- Education isn't just about literacy; it’s about legal rights. Most women in the rural belts don't even know they have the legal right to choose their spouse under the Constitution.
The Lahore sentence is a hollow victory. It’s a single spark in a dark room that is still filling with gas. Every time we focus on the death penalty, we let the legislators off the hook. We let the police off the hook. We let the culture off the hook.
Justice isn't a body count. Justice is a system where the crime becomes unthinkable because the state’s protection is more powerful than the family’s pride. Until the Pakistani state treats every woman as a citizen rather than property, these sentences are nothing more than a blood-soaked PR campaign.
Dismantle the loopholes. Arrest the elders. Protect the living. The dead don't need your hangman.
