SUKKUR: In a tragic incident in Sindh’s Badin district, a father brutally tortured his daughter to death for wishing to marry a man of her choice, committing Karo-Kari — an act of so-called honour killing prevalent in the rural and tribal regions of Sindh.

The victims of such killings are predominantly women, accused of bringing shame to their families for having relationships outside marriage, before marriage, or seeking to marry of their own free will. 

In some cases, victims are killed merely based on rumours or hearsay.

The police arrested the murder suspect, a resident of Lanwari Sharif Town, who was identified as Dodo Bheel, while the victim’s name was Indirah Bheel.

Speaking to reporters, the suspect admitted to killing his daughter after she allegedly threatened to leave the family to marry a man she liked.

Dodo claimed that such marriages went against his family’s tradition, where girls are not allowed to wed of their own free will.

“Dodo Bheel fatally struck his daughter, Indrah Bheel, on the head with sticks,” said Anwar Laghari, Station House Officer (SHO) of Badin Model Police Station.

In January, a man gunned down his teenage daughter and her friend in the name of honour at Malir’s Rafah-e-Aam Society in Karachi.

The suspect claimed that he found his daughter and her friend alone on the rooftop of the house, which enraged him into shooting them dead, according to the police.

Much of Pakistani society operates under a strict code of “honour”, with women beholden to their male relatives over choices around education, employment and who they can marry.

Hundreds of women are killed by men in Pakistan every year for allegedly breaching this code.

According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, 316 “honour” crimes against women were recorded in the country in 2022.

But many cases go unreported, as families tend to protect the murderers — often male relatives.