Pakistan’s Ongoing Struggle with Gender-Based Violence
By Olivia Hicks
Pakistan is a country well known for its religious extremism, honour killings, and gender-based violence. Most outsiders see this brutality as harrowingly cruel and in need of mending. Recently, Pakistan has been brought to a new low as the news of the murder of Sarah Bibi makes headlines. Her murder has highlighted the problem of gender-based violence in Pakistan further and influenced people to try and speak out through social media.
Sarah Bibi, formally Sarah Inam, was a 37 year old woman from Pakistan. She was well educated and attended the University of Waterloo. After which she moved to the United Arab Emirates, where she worked with the UAE Government. Stephanie Habib, a close friend of hers described Sarah as being “hardworking, ambitious and responsible.” 3 months prior to this event, she married Shahnawaz Amir, the son of a well known and respected journalist in Pakistan.
On the 23rd of September, Shahnawaz changed the ownership of Sarah’s Mercedes to his own without permission. This caused a disagreement between the two, which quickly escalated into full-blown screaming. It’s unclear what was said, but the next day, Shahnawaz took a dumbbell and bludgeoned his wife to death. He then put her mangled body into the bathtub in his mother’s house. When his mother came home, she saw poor Sarah’s body and informed the police, who immediately rushed to the house. According to reports, Sarah’s husband was found covered in blood. From there, he was arrested, and 2 further arrest warrants were sent out to his parents.
When being questioned by police, Shahnawaz claims that the murder was not just about the argument. He also claimed he believed Sarah was having an affair, even though they had barely been married for three months. Allegedly, the argument was just the tip of the iceberg for him, and the only choice he thought he had for revenge was to take her life.
At her funeral earlier this week, her father gave a grievous speech to the local media surrounding the funeral, stating:
She was with me just a month ago and now this has happened. I never thought even in my wildest imagination that something like this would happen to my daughter
As well as her father, Shahanawaz’s mother had a lot to say as well. She claims that she is horrified by her son’s actions, and refuses to support him through the trial in any way. Although she is outspoken about her hatred for her son, the media still criminalises her, claiming she has a bigger part in the murder than previously speculated – but none of this has been confirmed.
This murder led to outrage from social media users, demanding justice for the millions of Islamic women who suffer from abuse and violence at the hands of their male significant others. User Neelam Aslam said, “We lost a gem, a beautiful kind soul.” Many people have spoken about how Sarah isn’t the first woman for this to happen to. Many have compared her murder to past similar crimes targeted towards other women in Pakistan. One similar case is the murder of Noor Muqaddam, who was murdered by her husband back in July of this year. All of this has promoted people to take action and speak out on this issue.