Ayesha Baloch was dragged to a field, her brother-in-law held the 18-year-old down, her husband sat astride her legs and slit her upper lip and nostril with a knife. They call such assaults on women a matter of ‘honour’ in some communities, but for the majority it is a source of national shame. Married less than two months ago in Dera Ghazi Khan district, Baloch was accused of having sexual relations with another man before she married. “First they tortured me and beat me. I started screaming. Akbar then caught my hands and pulled me to the ground. Essa sat on my legs and cut my nose and lips,” Baloch mumbled through her bandages at hospital in the city of Multan. “I was bleeding and started screaming after they fled on a motorcycle. People heard me and rescued me and took me to my mother’s home.” At least she wasn’t killed.
More than 1,000 women are slain by their husbands or relatives, and that is just the reported, not actual, number of ‘honour killings’ in Pakistan each year. Many killings are planned rather than done in rage, and the motive often has more to do with money or settling scores.