Noor was not in a live-in relationship. She was held hostage by Zahir for two days before she was murdered by him. A few months later, in the same city, Sara Inam, who was living in with her husband Shahnawaz, was murdered by him. Justice, not sermons.

The horrific honour killing case from Balochistan is a stark reminder that Pakistan still faces a crisis of impunity and underreporting in crimes against women. When entire communities conspire to hide femicide, justice is undone twice.

A 31-year-old woman, mother of two small children, was murdered in the name of ‘honor’ by her father and brother in Jhelum. Within hours of the killing, the brother was at the Islamabad airport, trying to flee the country.

https://t.co/225jOi4uTC

Good morning! X. GM @elonmusk, @grok This sounds amazing. “One day our phones will beam holograms through space—so no matter the planet, your face will find mine in streams of starlit code.” Julia

77 years ago, the last Dogra governor of Gilgit surrendered to the Gilgit Scouts and this image was produced. Today marks 77 years to the Gilgit Revolt and the region’s 77th Independence Day.

“The entire unjust world does not care about this. That’s all I can say.” Heartbreaking testimony in the wake of the killing of newborn twins and their mother in Gaza -- leaving behind a father whose world is shattered. Correspondent @JDiamond1 reports.

‘shatters the Olympic javelin record’

To ensure a safe digital environment for women, considering contextual realities, special provisions need to be drafted to address the existing shortcomings in the law. Enhancing the human and material resources capacity of the cyber crime units should be a priority.

While this is mostly a responsibility on part of the Social Media Platforms, improved institutional coordination can help with timely blocking of the criminally offensive content.

In case of unknown/anonymous accounts, law enforcement cannot register a case unless the relevant social media platform provides the required data to identify the person behind the account.

Most of the complaints regarding tech-facilitated blackmailing (sharing of private photos etc) do not entail a criminal offence under PECA (section 21) as the content is not ‘transmitted or made public’. Yet. The survivor is at the mercy of the perpetrator. At times, for years.

The law is vague and inadequate to address the issue contextually. Many of the offences that cause critical harm to women are not cognisable (i.e., an FIR cannot be registered immediately upon complaint). An example would be section 24: Cyberstalking.

Tech-facilitated violence against women poses a growing threat to their socio-economic & political inclusion in Pakistan. Deepfake videos/audios etc are increasingly used as a tool to target/silence women. Sadly, the criminal justice system is failing them. This is why - 🧵

What language did the camel use to reach a compromise?

There is an email doing rounds with an attachment (notice) bearing my name. Please disregard - it’s an impersonation attempt. I am reporting it to the relevant authorities. I do not hold charge of an office since I am in the UK doing a graduate degree.

Five years later.

While 305 PPC can be applied to create strong deterrence, the law must also draw parameters to define the crime of Honour Killing in clear terms. Unless it is left to the discretion of the Courts, there would hardly be any victim getting justice from the system.

Once the accused claims a different motive, and the Judge decides there is not enough proof for Honour Killing, the accused is acquitted based on compromise or pardon by the legal heirs - which in almost all cases is the family of the victim.

A simple reading of the judgment in Qandeel Baloch’s case makes it clear that even when the accused mentions that his act was backed by the intent of ‘videos and photos’, it is for the Judge to decide whether that’s enough proof for the act of honour killing to be made out or not

This lacuna has led to many acquittals/pardons, specifically since the investigators do not know what to include in the investigation in particular to make a crime fall into the category of HK, except perhaps for the statement of the accused where he clearly mentions Honour.