'Honour killings' bring dishonour to

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beheading of a woman by her brother in
Kolkata highlights a surge in so-called 'honour killings'.
Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2013 22:12:37 +0600
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It is difficult to get the actual number of "honour killings", as they are =
often disguised as accidents or suicides [EPA]
The policeman jumped to his feetas the man walked into the station and =
placed the head of his sister, along with the butcher knife that =
decapitated her, on thetable in front of him.
The incident in Kolkata on December 7 was another killing in the name of =
"honour" and there has been a surge in such attacks over the past several =
months.
Nilofar Bibi, 22, was only 14 years old when she left home in an arranged =
marriage. Alleging torture carried out by her in-laws, Bibi returned to her =
parents on November 28, but vanished days later.
Her brother, Mehtab Alam, 29, had discovered his sister was living with an =
old boyfriend, Firoz, an auto-rickshaw driver. Alam stormed into the home =
anddragged Bibi onto the street in broad daylight.
Passers-by looked on in horror as he cut off Bibi's head while saying "she =
had sinned and had to be punished".
Alam left his sister's body in a pool of blood on the road, and calmly =
walked to the police station, her head in hand, to surrender himself. The =
siblings' family expressed support for Alam, saying they were proud he =
upheld their honour.
In a country currently caught up in collective outrage over a gang rape of =
a medical student in New Delhi, Bibi's killing registered onlya passing =
reference in the national media.
But the coverage - or the lack of it - failed to hide the true extent of a =
scourge that bedevils many Indian women.
In a similar incident, a 17-year-oldgirl, a resident of Khoraon =
village,Kaushambi in Uttar Pradesh, was hacked to death by her father for =
having an affair with a 20-year-old from another religion from the same =
village, on December 24.
In the south, a 19-year-old woman in Sangameshwar village in Dharwad, =
Karnataka, was allegedly killed and burnt by her parents on December =
23.
Killed in the name of 'honour'
"Honour killings" are traditionallyassociated with developing countries =
with significant Muslim populations, and India has been no exception.