A killing in the name of honour. If the family forgives, does the killer walk free?

Key points

• Since the 2016 amendment, section 311 of the Pakistan Penal Code says that where qisas is waived or the offence is compounded, a killing committed in the name or on the pretext of honour is punished with imprisonment for life.
• The Code counts an offence committed in the name or on the pretext of honour as fasad-fil-arz (section 299(ee)), and that means karo kari, siyah kari and similar customs (section 299(ii)).
• In 2024 PCrLJ 2028 the Sindh High Court refused to accept a compromise from heirs who had never reported the killing and had stayed aloof from the case. The appeals were sent on to be heard on their merits.
• The Supreme Court said in 2024 SCMR 1584 that neither the law of the land nor religion permits so-called honour killing.

The rule in one line

A family can forgive, but forgiveness no longer frees a person who kills in the name of honour. Section 311 of the Pakistan Penal Code lets the court punish as ta'zir after qisas is waived or compounded, and since 2016 its proviso fixes that punishment at imprisonment for life for offences committed in the name or on the pretext of honour.

What happened in this case

On 1 September 2021, in the area of Police Station Wasti Jiwan Shah in Ghotki, a police patrol acting on a tip-off rushed to a house. In their presence a man, armed with a gun, dragged his stepsister, then nineteen or twenty, out of the house, accusing her of an affair, and shot her. She died on the spot.

No one from her family came forward to report the killing. An officer of the police lodged the FIR on behalf of the State.

On 18 August 2023 the trial court convicted him under section 302(b) and sentenced him to imprisonment for life as ta'zir, with compensation of Rs. 10 lakh to the heirs. He appealed. While the appeal was pending, the heirs said they had forgiven him, waived qisas and diyat, and asked the court to accept the compromise.

Why the Court refused the compromise

Justice Muhammad Iqbal Kalhoro of the Sindh High Court, Sukkur Bench, decided the compromise applications on 31 May 2024.

The Court noted that the family had preferred to stay aloof like a silent spectator. None of them reported the murder or supported the case. In the Court's words, their callous conduct towards the murdered girl from the outset made them incompetent to compound her murder.

The compromise applications were dismissed, and the appeals were directed to be heard on their merits. This order does not decide the appeal itself.

The Supreme Court on so-called honour killing

Eleven days later, in Muhammad Ali Mahar v. The State (2024 SCMR 1584, 11 June 2024), the Supreme Court of Pakistan said that neither the law of the land nor religion permits so-called honour killing, which amounts to murder simpliciter, and that it is regarded as fasad-fil-arz.

The case at a glance

Facts

Ghotki, 1 September 2021: in front of a police patrol, the accused shot his stepsister (19/20) over an alleged affair. Her family never reported it; the police lodged the FIR. Convicted under s.302(b) PPC and sentenced to life imprisonment on 18 August 2023. During the appeal the heirs forgave him and filed compromise applications.

The question

Whether heirs who stayed silent and never pursued the case could compound a killing committed in the name of honour.

What the Court held

Compromise applications dismissed; the heirs' conduct from the outset made them incompetent to compound the murder. The appeals are to be heard on merits.

Why

The family stayed aloof like silent spectators and did not even report the murder. The law treats an offence in the name of honour as fasad-fil-arz, and s.311 fixes life imprisonment after waiver or compounding in such cases.

Limits

This was a ruling on compromise applications in a pending appeal, not the final decision on the conviction. The life-imprisonment proviso of s.311 applies to offences committed in the name or on the pretext of honour; other murders follow the ordinary rules on waiver and compounding.

The law it relies on

What this does not mean

• It does not mean a family can never forgive a murder. Waiver and compounding still exist in the Penal Code; the 2016 proviso fixes life imprisonment for killings in the name or on the pretext of honour.
• It does not mean the accused in this case has been finally convicted on appeal. The Court only refused the compromise and sent the appeals to be heard on merits.
• It does not mean every killing within a family is an honour killing. Whether the offence was committed in the name or on the pretext of honour is a question the court decides on the evidence.

Questions people ask

Sources

• Arbelo alias Arbab Kosh v. The State, 2024 PCrLJ 2028 (Sindh High Court (Sukkur Bench), 31 May 2024), paras 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 11, 13
  Compromise refused: heirs who stayed silent from the outset are incompetent to compound the murder; appeals to be heard on merits. verified against full text Sindh High Court (judgment PDF)
• Muhammad Ali Mahar v. The State, 2024 SCMR 1584 (Supreme Court of Pakistan, 11 June 2024), paras 11
  Neither the law of the land nor religion permits so-called honour killing; it is regarded as fasad-fil-arz. verified against full text Supreme Court of Pakistan (judgment PDF)
• Pakistan Penal Code, 1860, ss.299(ee), 299(ii), 311 text checked in FAI Statute Search (current, as amended in 2016) Pakistan Code

Every quote and section above is traced to the full judgment or statute text by an automatic check that runs on every update.

What the reel says