In the name of honour

I recently happened to read this book "Burned Alive" by Souad. Its claims to be a true story of a woman from Palestine who was burned by her family for the sake of honour! She miraculously escaped to tell this tale albeit anonymously. There have been various debates regarding the authenticity of this book and many believe it to be just a work of fiction. I am not going to debate if this is a piece of fition or a true story, but it is a horrifying account of one woman's escape from hell. In the village described by Souad, girls aren't supposed to step out alone, they should be accompanied by an elder and they should not make eye contact with any man, let alone talk. A girl's honour is of the highest importance to any family and they will kill the girl if there is a compromise of any kind. The honour is of so much importance that after a wedding, the whole village witnesses the proof of the bride's virginity. Also female infanticide is pretty common with mothers smothering the babies in sheepskin. Her sister is killed by her brother for reasons unknown to her. Souad is treated like a slave in her house and entrusted with all kinds of menial labour whereas her brother is brought up in the lap of luxury. She is also regularly flogged and tortured by her cruel father who finds faults even when a job is done properly. To escape this drudgery she dreams of getting married, but she cannot do so till her elder sister is married off. Souad soon falls in love with a neighbour, who has asked her hand in marriage, and also gets pregnant. So her family hatches a plot to eliminate her and redeem her. Her brother in law is entrusted with the task and he pours petrol over her and sets her on fire. When she is rescued and admitted to the hospital, she is denied treatment and left to die. She gives birth to her child under these horrifying circumstances and the child is sent to an orphanage. In fact her mother visits and offers her poison. she is rescued by a social worker and taken to Europe where she rebuilds her life fighting depression and anger. The description of her trauma and experience in the hospital as a neglected burns victim is mentally disturbing.
Now this seems horrifying and almost impossible to imagine but honour killings are prevalent in quite a few countries including India. In most of the cases, women who defy the norms of the community are attacked or even murdered. Sometimes couples are chased and killed for falling in love. The survivors have to live in hiding and fear all their lives. A google search of "honour killings" reveals many disturbing facts and figures. At least 5000 women are victims to this practice every year all over the world. In some places, even the law does not help in getting justice. As described by Souad, judges who sentence a person for honour killing are soon killed. And if any one person stands up for this crime, he/she is either disowned by the society or eliminated. In some cases, though the family members are helpless, they commit the crime in order to redeem their family's honour and position in the community. And sometimes even innocent women are killed since they are not given the benefit of doubt. This can just happen based on some loose talk in the town or someone misinterpreting a woman's actions.

While some parts of the world have progressed socially, such inhuman practices are wide-spread in some parts of the world and need to be eliminated to call ourselves a truly progressed society where women can walk with freedom and pride.