Unfortunately, crimes against women are not region or religion specific, but the recent years have been particularly harrowing for Pakistani women. The horrific incident of 27-year-old Noor Muqaddam, a diplomat's daughter who was brutally beheaded in the nation's capital for refusing a marriage proposal, was yet to be wiped out of short public memory when another horrific incident comes to remind that they aren't safe. Even in their own homes.
A Pakistani man allegedly killed his wife, by boiling her in a cauldron in front of his six children. A murder this gruesome cannot be described without questions being raised on the society, nation or culture that breeds inhumanity. As per local media reports, the incident happened in the country's Sindh province and the police found Nargis' body on Wednesday. The body was found in a cauldron in the kitchen of a private school in the Gulshan-e-Iqbal area of the city.
As per the police statement, the woman's husband Ashiq from Bajaur Agency worked as a watchman at the school and lived on the school premises along with his family. The murder came to light when the victim's 15-year-old daughter called the police after Ashiq fled along with three of his children.
In a statement, District East Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Abdur Rahim Sherazi said that the police had custody of the other three children and that they were traumatized.
The body of the victim has been taken to a hospital for medico-legal formalities. Statements given by the children and preliminary investigations revealed that the victim was first strangulated with a pillow and later boiled in a cauldron in front of his children. One of the legs has also been severed from her body. Allegedly, Ashiq asked his wife to have illicit relations with other men and murdered her when she refused.
The uncomfortable conversations on gender-based violence haven't necessarily translated to a sensitized society. The media report also cited another similar incident from 2011 when a woman killed her husband and attempted to cook his body parts after he planned to marry another woman without her permission. The police arrested Zainab Bibi, 32 along with her nephew Zaheer, 22 from Shah Faisal Colony. Together they killed Ahmed Abbas, Zainab's husband and chopped his body into pieces. The police recovered the bowl of flesh, that Zainab planned on cooking.
Neither the first nor the last crime against women
A Tik-Tok creator Ayesha Ikram was harassed and groped by more than 400 men on the country's Independence Day. Is there a surge in violence or are more women speaking up against the crimes? Have more women platforms, social media activism translated to empathised men or only empowered more women to speak up against injustice?
As per the 2017-2018 Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey, 28 per cent of women aged 15 to 49 had experienced intimate partner violence in their lifetimes. Considering that most cases of domestic violence and sexual harassment come cloaked in shame and secrecy, the statistic is grossly underreported.
