From behind the steel bars of his jail cell, Muhammad Ismail
described with uncanny ease how he shot and killed his wife, his
mother-in-law, and sister-in-law.
"The first shot hit the
side of her body," Ismail said. "I left her there and went next door and
killed my wife's mother and sister. I made sure they were all dead.
Then I locked the door and left the house."
Without any apparent regret, Ismail said he would do it again.
"I am proud of what I did. That's why I turned myself over to the police."
Ismail's confession to
the triple-murder that took place last February in a village in central
Pakistan is a rare and chilling first-hand account of a so-called
'honor' killing -- the murder of women who are usually accused of
dishonoring their families by being unfaithful or disobedient.
Ismail accused his wife of eight months of repeatedly flirting with other men and spending long hours away from home.
"My wife never made me
happy," said the 20-year-old who played drums in a traditional Pakistani
wedding band before his arrest. "She was like a prostitute. She never
took care of me."
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan reported 943 women were "killed in the name of honor" in Pakistan last year, an increase of more than 100 from 2010.
Rights groups blame the
increase in 'honor' murders partly on what they call an ineffective
justice system in Pakistan that too often allows killers to go
unpunished.
Despite his videotaped
confession to CNN and an earlier confession to police, prosecutors say
Ismail can soon be a free man if his victims' family agrees to accept
compensation for the killings.
Receiving blood money is
an option for victims in many conservative Muslim societies under the
Islamic principal that mercy is more noble than revenge.
But women's rights
activists complain that in patriarchal societies like Pakistan, 'honor'
killers regularly bully and threaten the female victim's family into
accepting blood money.
"When it comes to the
crime we have a natural reaction of shock and horror, but when we see
the justice system not work, our heart breaks," said legal advisor and
rights activist Bushra Syed.
According to human
rights lawyer Zia Ahmed Awan, victims' families in Pakistan are also at a
disadvantage because 'honor' killings often take place in
male-dominated communities where women are often viewed as property with
few rights to defend themselves and little access to legal aid.
"In parts of the country
there is hardly any legal help for women," Awan said. "This crime is
growing because the courts and laws are not responding to the cries for
help."
Awan said police,
lawmakers and judges in these communities are too often either corrupt
or lack the proper resources and power to investigate and prosecute
crimes. Instead they regularly defer to a traditional system of justice
where powerful tribal leaders and male heads of families rule on
disputes, he said.
In 1999 Awan set up
Pakistan's first hotline for female victims of abuse and families who
lost loved ones to 'honor' murders. He called it the Madadgar Help
Center. Today Awan has help centers in four cities, providing thousands
of victims and families shelter, legal advice, and medical care, often
free of charge.
Hamida Bibi called
Awan's help center in Karachi after her newlywed daughter's husband
allegedly killed her for having an affair.
"Somebody told us to come here because they could help us," Bibi said. "They said they would listen."
Awan said the fight
against "murders for honor" is slowly paying off; that police are making
more arrests, the courts are prosecuting more cases, and the media is
paying attention.
But rights groups agree
the steady increase in such deaths and the possibility that confessed
killers like Muhammad Ismail are often set free are stark signs that the
fight is far from over.