ISLAMABAD / LAHORE: Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Tassaduq Hussain Jillani took suo motu notice on Friday of the brutal murder of a woman outside the Lahore High Court (LHC) and asked the Punjab inspector general (IG) to submit a report within 48 hours.

Twenty-five-year-old Farzana Parveen was beaten to death with bricks on Tuesday outside the high court building by over a dozen attackers, including her own father and brother, because she had married a man against her family’s wishes.

The union was unacceptable to the family, who had filed an abduction case against her husband Mohammad Iqbal. Farzana was attacked when she went to the court to record a statement in favour of her husband.

Four more held, four nominated suspects still at large

On May 29, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif took notice of the murder and directed the Punjab chief minister to immediately submit a report on the incident. The chief minister had ordered the Punjab IG to register a case under anti-terrorism laws.

Earlier, the LHC had also taken notice of the incident and asked for a report on the matter from a district and sessions judge in Lahore.

The brutal incident drew sharp criticism and widespread condemnation from inside and outside the country. Legal experts put these crimes down to ‘bad governance’.

Meanwhile, police teams in Lahore investigating the murder took another four suspects into custody on Friday.

However, four nominated accused — her two brothers, former husband and a sister-in-law — are yet to be arrested.

There are six nominated and over 20 unidentified accused in the case.

According to a news release issued by police, the Lahore police chief has constituted two teams under the supervision of a deputy inspector general to arrest the remaining accused.

A report submitted to the police chief by the Lahore capital city police officer said that five accused — Mohammad Azeem (the victim’s father), Mohammad Atta, Nasir (driver), Alam Sher and Jahan Khan (brother) — had been arrested and a 30-bore pistol seized.

It said police teams were conducting raids in Syedwala area of Nankana district and looking for possible hideouts in other places.

The report said local police were informed about the incident by a passerby at 7.45am through a Rescue 15 call that a quarrel was going on between two groups. A police team immediately reached the place but by that time the woman had died.

A case was registered on the application of Mohammad Iqbal under Sections 302, 148 and 149 of Pakistan Penal Code and the Anti-Terrorism Act.

It said the post-mortem report had termed a head injury as the major cause of death.

Police sources told Dawn that a police official had to seek the help of a Nankana-based MPA to detain suspects Jahan and Alam, while two others had been captured by the Civil Lines and CIA police teams.

Farzana’s father Azeem was taken into custody on the day of the killing, but her first husband Mazhar Iqbal, brothers Zahid and Ghulam Ali and sister-in-law Saeeda are at large.

In Islamabad, Shafqat Mehmood Chohan, president of the Lahore High Court Bar Association, told Dawn that honour killing was on the rise because the state was unable to enforce its writ. “These murderers know how to handle the police and they can easily dodge legal proceedings, therefore, they challenge the writ of state without fear,” he said.

According to Chohan, such attacks would not be curtailed unless law-enforcement agencies took strict action against the culprits and the courts handed down exemplary punishment.

Syed Qalab-i-Hassan, a former vice chairman of the Pakistan Bar Council, said it was necessary to bring a behavioural change at the grassroots level.

He said the government and non-governmental organisations should conduct a behaviour-change campaign; arrange seminars and counselling sessions for different communities in order to create awareness about the evils of honour killing.

Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2014