Pakistani Fathers Who Committed 'Honor Killings' of Their Daughters and Fled to Europe

After Killing Children, Fleeing Continues in Country of Residence
Pakistan Significantly Increases Sentences but Situation Remains Unchanged

There have been consecutive crimes involving Pakistani men who immigrated to European countries killing their teenage daughters from their hometowns and fleeing. European investigative authorities have cooperated with the Pakistani government to arrest the suspects.

According to the British media outlet Daily Mail on the 31st of last month (local time), Pakistani police have launched a joint investigation with British authorities to arrest Urfan Sharif, a British national of Pakistani descent.

Sharif is an immigrant residing in Woking, a small town in Surrey near London. In early last month, he left the country with his wife Bainashi Batool and younger brother Faisal Malik and returned to his hometown in Pakistan. The day after his return, his daughter Saraya Sharif was found dead at their home in Pakistan.

After the police conducted an autopsy on Sara's body, it was revealed that the victim had suffered "extensive injuries over a prolonged period." This raised the possibility that she died from assault. Sharif reportedly did not send his daughter Sara to elementary school, withdrawing her on the grounds of "homeschooling."

A Pakistani father accused of honor killing his daughter is being extradited.
[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

This is not the first case of a Pakistani father who immigrated to Europe killing his child and fleeing. In Italy, a man who killed his 18-year-old daughter fled to his hometown Pakistan but was arrested.

According to the local media agency ANSA, Shabar Abbas is accused of killing his daughter along with other family members in April 2021 in Novellara, northern Italy, because she refused an arranged marriage. He fled to Pakistan and was arrested in his hometown last November.

At the time, the Italian prosecution suspected Abbas's motive for killing his child was "honor killing." Honor killing refers to a woman being killed by family members, including parents, because she is believed to have tarnished the family's honor.

As of 2018, Pakistan was ranked as the country with the highest number of honor killing cases per capita. The Pakistani government passed a bill to strengthen the punishment for perpetrators of honor killings to 25 years in prison to eradicate such incidents, but the situation has not significantly improved.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.