Pakistani Muslim Sets Wife on Fire in "Honor Killing"

Many women in Pakistan do not have the freedom to openly challenge and criticize honor killings. Hence, the task of calling for the protection of Muslim women falls to Westerners. Yet Westerners who call for an open, honest discussion of honor killings are labeled "Islamophobes" and "bigots." How will there ever come a time when Pakistani women will be safe from their own families if we allow fear to silence us?

AFP—A Pakistani man and his father have been arrested in the country's latest so-called "honour killing" after they set the son's wife alight for leaving the house without asking his permission, police said Sunday.

Muhammad Siddique became enraged on learning that his wife, Shabana Bibi, 25, had visited her sister without first asking him if she could go out, her brother Muhammad Azam said.

Siddique and his father then beat Bibi before dousing her with petrol and setting her on fire in Central Pakistan's Muzaffargarh district on Friday, Azam said.

Bibi had been married to Siddique for three years, during which time she had suffered repeated domestic abuse for the couple's inability to have children, Azam said.

Suffering burns to 80 percent of her body, Bibi died of her injuries in hospital on Saturday. (Continue Reading.)

Newlywed Couple Decapitated by Bride's Family for "Honor"

Muslim organizations like CAIR and ISNA routinely condemn people who draw attention to Islamic honor killings. But if we don't draw attention to the practice, it will continue indefinitely. How in the name of common sense can we be "intolerant" and "bigoted" for defending Muslim women and girls?

(CNN)—A young newlywed couple in northeastern Pakistan died a horrible death at the hands of the bride's family in the latest honor killing in the nation, police in Pakistan said Saturday.

The couple, identified as Sajjad Ahmed, 26, and Muawia Bibi, 18, were married by a Pakistani court on June 18 against the wishes of the Bibi family, Punjab police official Mohammad Ahsanullah told CNN.

On Thursday, the bride's father and uncles lured the couple back to the village of Satrah in Punjab province, where Ahsanullah said the pair were tied up and then decapitated.

Despite the fact that there were no outside witnesses, family members turned themselves in to police and are now jailed in the Sialkot district of Punjab, Ahsanulluh said.

Such killings often originate from tribal traditions in Pakistan and usually happen in rural areas. Human rights activists said bystanders, including police, don't often interfere because the killings are considered to be family matters.

According to the United Nations, some 5,000 women are murdered by family members in honor killings every year. However, women's advocacy groups believe the crime is underreported and that the actual death toll from this all too common crime is actually much higher. In Pakistan, 869 women were victims of honor killings last year, according to the country's human rights commission. (Continue Reading.)

Syrian Teens Murder Sister for Islamic "Honor"

Every year, thousands of girls and women are slaughtered by their own families in the name of Allah. Yet when we draw attention to these crimes, we are called "racists" and "bigots." Apparently, only "racists" and "bigots" speak out in defense of Muslim girls and women.

BEIRUT/TRIPOLI, Lebanon—The Internal Security Forces launched an investigation Friday after two minor Syrian brothers allegedly strangled their 24-year-old sister to death in what was said to be an "honor killing."

A security source in the northern city of Tripoli said the brothers – Adel and Nader Abdul-Qader al-Turk – claimed to have strangled their sister because she would constantly leave the house at night without them knowing where or who she was seeing.

A statement by ISF said the brothers, aged 13 and 16, were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the murder of their sister, only identified by her first name, Dayala.

ISF said the murder took place Thursday in the village of Didde, in the northern province of Koura.

It said Dayala's father arrived with his 16-year-old son at the police station in Dahr al-Ain, Koura, to report the killing.

The state-run National News Agency said the woman’s body had been found lying on the street near Frere school in Didde. (Continue Reading.)

Pakistan: Farzana Iqbal Stoned to Death by Her Own Family for Marrying Man She Loved

Politicians, the media, and Muslim organizations have spent years silencing critics of Islam. Meanwhile, women are still being brutally murdered by their own families for the sake of Islamic "honor." The people that should be standing up for these women are instead defending the ideology that promotes the honor killings.

Police collecting evidence near the body of Farzana Iqbal

Lahore, Pakistan — A pregnant woman was stoned to death Tuesday by her own family outside a courthouse in the Pakistani city of Lahore for marrying the man she loved.

The woman was killed while on her way to court to contest an abduction case her family had filed against her husband. Her father was promptly arrested on murder charges, police investigator Rana Mujahid said, adding that police were working to apprehend all those who participated in this “heinous crime.”

Arranged marriages are the norm among conservative Pakistanis, and hundreds of women are murdered every year in so-called honor killings carried out by husbands or relatives as a punishment for alleged adultery or other illicit sexual behavior.

Stonings in public settings, however, are extremely rare. Tuesday’s attack took place in front of a crowd of onlookers in broad daylight. The courthouse is located on a main downtown thoroughfare.

A police officer, Naseem Butt, identified the slain woman as Farzana Parveen, 25, and said she had married Mohammad Iqbal, 45, against her family’s wishes after being engaged to him for years.

Her father, Mohammad Azeem, had filed an abduction case against Iqbal, which the couple was contesting, said her lawyer, Mustafa Kharal. He said she was three months pregnant.

Nearly 20 members of Parveen’s extended family, including her father and brothers, had waited outside the building that houses the high court of Lahore. As the couple walked up to the main gate, the relatives fired shots in the air and tried to snatch her from Iqbal, her lawyer said.

When she resisted, her father, brothers and other relatives started beating her, eventually pelting her with bricks from a nearby construction site, according to Mujahid and Iqbal, the slain woman’s husband. (Continue Reading.)

UK: Mohammed Badiuzzaman Arrested for Honor-Killing Wife Sabeen Thandi

We're hearing reports of honor killings in Western nations regularly now, but we're still not allowed to discuss the Islamic teachings that give rise to these killings. After all, if we openly discuss what Islam teaches, someone's feelings might get hurt, and that wouldn't be "tolerant."

How many more girls and women must die before we start putting people's lives ahead of people's feelings?

United Kingdom—A controlling man who strangled his pregnant wife, leaving her three children without a mother, has pleaded guilty to her murder at the Old Bailey today.

Mohammed Badiuzzaman, 35, a security guard of no fixed abode, murdered Sabeen Thandi in a fit of rage on July 7 last year after discovering that she had begun a relationship with someone else.

Mohammed Badiuzzaman began a relationship with Sabeen Thandi, 37, in November 2012 and moved into her property in January 2013.

He became controlling and forced her to wear a hijab. In April 2013 he pressured her into an Islamic marriage.

He even tried to sell her home by pretending he was the owner to estate agents.

He refused to let her go out on her own and would not let her travel to and from work as a doctors receptionist.

By June 14 2013 she had had enough of Mohammed and visited a solicitors in Watford.

Three days later, Watford County Court put in place a non-molestation order against Mohammed preventing him from entering her home in Disraeli Road, Forest Gate.

She feared for her safety and the safety of her three children.

Two days later Mohammed forced her to revoke the order, telling her she would never see her son again if she did not.

When it became clear that Sabeen Thandi had been forced to attend the solicitors office they called police.

Mohammed Badiuzzaman was arrested on suspicion of threats to kill and unlawful imprisonment. He was later released.

In the early hours of July 7 last year officers were called to Disraeli Road after an abandoned call was made from the address.

Mohammed Badiuzzaman answered the door and told officers there was only himself and his daughter in the address.

When officers entered the property and asked Mohammed where the children’s mother was, he said she had not returned from work.

Officers found her lifeless body in a bedroom. She had been strangled.

Mohammed was arrested for her murder. (Continue Reading.)

Pakistan: Man Slits His Own Daughter's Throat for "Honor"

The recent film Honor Diaries attempts to draw attention to the plight of Muslim women in places like Pakistan, but Muslim organizations like CAIR are working tirelessly to block the film (thus perpetuating the killings).

Lahore, Pakistan - A man slaughtered his 22-year-old daughter in the name of honour in Nishtar Colony, police sources said on Tuesday. The killer is still at large while the police have registered a murder against him and are investigating.

Muhammad Rasheed slit the throat of his daughter Shahida at his house near Dolam Stop in Nishtar Colony. Shahida was rushed to hospital but died on the way. The family told the investigators the deceased had a relationship with a man. Police handed over the body to the family after the autopsy. Further investigation was underway. (Source)

United Kingdom: Muslim Wife Rania Alayed Murdered by Husband for Becoming Too Westernized

More than 90 percent of honor killings worldwide are committed by Muslims, yet Muslim organizations like CAIR and ISNA assure us that this correlation has nothing to do with religion. Indeed, as soon as we start pointing out the relationship between Islam and honor killings, we're labeled "racists," "bigots," and "Islamophobes."

The goal of such name-calling is to silence critics, so that the Islamic oppression of women can continue unabated. But if we allow ourselves to be silenced, women and girls will continue to lose their lives for the sake of religious "honor." It's time for Westerners to start valuing people's lives more than we value not being called names.

Rania Alayed

BBC News—A mother of three from Manchester was murdered by her husband for becoming "too westernised" and "establishing an independent life", a court has heard.

Rania Alayed, 25, went missing last June but her body has never been found.

Ahmed Al-Khatib admits causing her death, claiming he was "possessed of a spirit" when he pushed her, causing her to stumble, fall and bang her head.

Al-Khatib, 35, of Gorton, and his brother Muhaned Al-Khatib, of Salford, both deny murder.

Syrian-born Ms Alayed went to drop off her children at the flat of the defendant's brother, where she is said to have been murdered.

Muhaned Al-Khatib, 38, left the address with the children some 45 minutes later and shortly afterwards Ahmed Al-Khatib walked out wearing some of her traditional clothing with a suitcase containing her corpse, the Manchester Crown Court jury was told.

Muhaned Al-Khatib said he was not present at the time that any violence was used against Ms Alayed and did not bear any responsibility for her murder, the court heard.

It is alleged that in the early hours of the next day the two brothers, and another sibling, drove her body from Manchester to North Yorkshire where she was buried.

The prosecution told the jury the mother of three, from Cheetham Hill, had been "in fear of her husband" and "believed he might one day kill her".

She had sought help from the Citizens Advice Bureau, the police and eventually a solicitor which had angered her husband's family, the court heard.

Tony Cross QC, prosecuting, said: "The family of the defendants were insulted that she had gone to the law. They wanted her and her children back within the family fold.

"They believed that she was establishing an independent life, perhaps with another man. Therefore, it was decided that she should either be forced to comply or be killed."

Mr Cross added that in her husband's eyes she "began to become a little too westernised and had friends, male and female".

"This was all too much for the first two defendants," he said. (Continue Reading.)

Pakistan: More Than 200 Women Honor-Killed in Sindh Province in 2013

Women are being brutally murdered by their own families in the Sindh province of Pakistan. In a sane world, men and women from around the globe would unite in drawing attention to the plight of women in Sindh, and countries would mobilize their resources in an effort to protect potential victims of honor violence. In the actual world, however, condemning any Islamic practices (no matter how barbaric) is regarded as a form of racism, so people generally ignore the problem.

ISLAMABAD—In 2013, as many as 202 women were murdered in the name of Karo-kari (honour killing) in Sindh, Special Home Secretary Sindh informed the Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights on Monday.

The secretary also stated that at least 28 honour killing cases have been reported in 2014 thus far.

He added that the incidence of honour killing in interior Sindh is continuously rising because of the jirga system that exists in all districts of the rural parts of the province.

“The weakness of the legal system and the encouragement of the jirga system in rural areas are both responsible for the rise in the murder of women in the name of honour,” the secretary informed.

He assured that to prevent violence against women, special cells were functioning in all districts of Sindh, encouraging civil society to join the cells and report such cases.

He said that to create awareness, special seminars about the issue are also organised from time to time for the general public.

The Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights Chairperson Senator Afrasiab Khattak expressed serious concerns about the rising number of women killed in the name of honour.

He directed the provincial government to take effective steps to discourage the act. (Source)

For a brief introduction to the Islamic view of women, watch this:

Kassim Alhimidi Found Guilty in Honor Killing of Wife Shaima Alawadi

Shaima Alawadi was brutally murdered by her husband Kassim Alhimidi for seeking a divorce. Yet Alhimidi was smart enough to use the media's obsession with "Islamophobia" to deflect attention from his guilt. After murdering his wife, Alhimidi placed a note nearby saying, "This is my country. Go back to yours, terrorist." The media finally had its proof that criticism of jihad and sharia is a threat to the safety of Muslims, and stories about Islamophobia were splashed across newspapers, magazines, and websites.

Police, however, weren't as gullible as the media. Instead of jumping to conclusions about bigotry and racism, they examined the evidence and realized that Alawadi was murdered by her husband, not by an Islamophobe.

SAN DIEGO (CNS/CBS 8) - A jury Thursday found an East County man guilty in the murder of his estranged wife, prompting an outburst by several family members in the courtroom.

Kassim Alhimidi

Kassim Alhimidi, 49, was found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of 32-year-old Shaima Alawadi. He will be sentenced on May 15. He faces 26 years to life in prison.

After the verdict was read several people in the courtroom began shouting, and at least two people were taken out by deputies. Alhimidi was seen repeatedly shook his head, waved his finger and appeared to be praying.

A photocopied note found about eight to 10 feet from the victim read, "This is my country. Go back to yours, terrorist," leading investigators to initially believe Alawadi's killing may have been a hate crime.

Prosecutor Kurt Mechals said the defendant, upset that his wife wanted a divorce, killed her by hitting her at least six times in the head with a blunt object as she sat at a computer.

Alhimidi said he was out for a drive when his wife was killed the morning of March 21, 2012, but surveillance video taken from a nearby school showed his van and a dark-clothed person coming and going in the area of the family home on Skyview Drive around the time the victim was attacked, Mechals said.

Alawadi had told relatives she "couldn't stand" the defendant and had taken out divorce papers, the prosecutor said.

Shaima Alawadi

"The relationship was in the tank. It was bad," Mechals told the jury.

The couple's then-17-year-old daughter, Fatima, told police she was upstairs when she heard a "squeal," then later what sounded like a broken plate downstairs around 11 a.m. the day her mother was attacked. A pane from a sliding glass door had been broken from the inside, Mechals said.

Fatima -- who had stayed home from school -- thought her mother had fallen, but paramedics first on the scene said blood and other evidence was inconsistent with a fall.

Fatima had been at odds with her Muslim parents for dating a Chaldean, but she had no motive to kill her mother, according to Mechals, who told jurors it was "unreasonable to think she (Fatima) had anything to do with it."

After his wife was taken to the hospital, Alhimidi asked relatives "what do you think will happen if she wakes up and says I hit her?" Mechals said. (Continue Reading.)

Here's video footage of the chaos that ensued following the reading of the verdict.

San Diego, California News Station - KFMB Channel 8 - cbs8.com

Pakistan: Five Dead in Family Honor Killing

Here's another one of those things we can't talk about without being called racists and Islamophobes.

SWABI: Five members of a family were killed in the name of honour in Kab Ghani village of Gadoon Amazai area here on Monday, police said.

They said that two members of the family were injured in the incident and they were shifted to Peshawar for treatment. The suspect managed to escape after committing the crime, they added.

Sources said that both the families, parties to the dispute, were blood relatives. They said that about a decade ago a sister of Fazl Amin had married his cousin Javed Ahmad without the consent of her parents. According to the decision of a local jirga, the family of Javed Ahmed left the village for Karachi soon after the marriage.

However, the victim family returned to its home a few days ago. The brothers of the girl got infuriated when they came to know about the return of the family, sources said.

Police said that Fazl Amin scaled the boundary wall of his cousin’s house before dawn and opened firing on the inmates. The suspect killed his uncle Jamil Ahmed, aunt Zarqia Begum, brother-in-law Javed Ahmed, sister Nizakat Bibi and nephew Aryan Khan on the spot, they added.

He managed to escape soon after the incident. Police said that search for the suspect was continued. They said that several areas and houses of his relatives were raided but he was still at large.

Farhan Khan, son of Javed Ahmed, and a woman identified as Zarhajia sustained injuries in the attack. They were shifted to a hospital in Peshawar. According to doctors, the injured were in critical condition. (Continue Reading.)

Mariam Yousif Stabbed 14 Times in Brutal Honor-Killing after Converting to Islam to Marry a Muslim

Australian courts have ruled that, if a man is provoked into a rage by his wife, he cannot be found guilty of murder, but only of the lesser crime of manslaughter. Since any man who kills his wife or daughter in an honor-killing will say that she provoked him, Australia has declared that honor-killings are not murder, because the man is partially justified.

Daily Telegraph—Mariam Yousif, who converted to Islam to marry her husband at 16, was stabbed 14 times in a “brutal and frenzied” attack inside her Wiley Park unit in 2012.

Her 54-year-old husband, Yassir Hassan, was found guilty of manslaughter instead of murder because he told the court he was provoked by his wife during an argument when she “questioned his manhood”.

Ms Yousif’s mother Hanan Zaki said provocation was a “ridiculous” defence for her daughter’s killer.

She is angry the state government has taken almost a year to act on recommendations from a parliamentary inquiry that would ensure the provocation defence was not used to escape murder charges.

“How many women need to die before this law will change?” Ms Zaki said.

“I need it to change and I need change now. I could not save my daughter but I want to save the life of another woman.”

The parliamentary inquiry was launched after Sydney man Chamanjot Singh was sentenced to six years in prison for slitting his wife’s throat with a box cutter.

He successfully argued he was provoked because his wife, Manpreet Kaur, had threatened to leave him.

In the case of Yassir Hassan, Justice Peter Garling said in his sentencing that the killing happened because Hassan “was provoked into losing his self-control, which explains why he is guilty of the lesser offence of manslaughter and not murder”. (Continue Reading.)

For more on honor killings in Islam, watch our ABN special here (with Pamela Geller):

Thamar Zeidan "Honor Killed" after Relatives and Five Local Mosques Pressure Her Father into Killing Her

Politicians, the media, and Western Muslim organizations constantly assure us that honor killings have nothing to do with Islam, despite the fact that 91% of all honor killings are committed by Muslims. But if honor killings are really so thoroughly un-Islamic, why don't more Muslims stand against the practice?

National Review—Thamar Zeidan was murdered by her father when he choked her to death as she took an afternoon nap in their small, conservative West Bank village.

“Honour crimes” are rarely talked about in Palestinian society, but Ms. Zeidan’s mother and sister have gone public to highlight the case and reveal the immense pressure her father came under to commit the crime.

Extended members of the woman’s family accused her of “disgraceful and outrageous acts” in a petition that was widely circulated in her village of Deir Al Ghusun, near the West Bank town of Tulkarem.

The petition demanded Ms. Zeidan’s father, Munther, “reinstate the cultural and religious morals in his family.”

It was posted in five local mosques during Friday prayer and signed by more than 50 relatives, including Abed Al-Rahman Zeidan, a Palestinian lawmaker.

“My husband was under tremendous pressure,” said Ms. Zeidan’s mother, Laila. “The family wanted to banish us from the West Bank and people started rumours that my husband wasn‎‎’t mentally stable.”

Reacting to demands to restore the family’s honour, Munther killed his daughter, Laila Zeidan said.

“My husband is a peaceful man and this is completely out of character, but the pressure was too intense.”

There have been 27 “honour crimes” in Palestinian areas this year, compared with 13 last year, according to organizations who keep track of such murders. (Continue Reading.)

For the truth about honor killings in Islam, watch our ABN special:

Afghan Teenager Gul Meena Describes Brutal "Honor" Attack

To all the reporters and politicians working tirelessly to protect Islam from criticism: I hope you eventually realize what you're protecting. (For more on women in Islam, click here.)

Gul Meena

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- It's cold and raining in Kabul and the pothole-filled dirt roads have turned into a sea of mud. We drive up to the gateway of a high-walled compound. A soldier brandishing an AK-47 stands guard outside the building. We've come to a women's shelter to meet Gul Meena -- a 17-year-old girl from Pakistan who shouldn't be alive.

My crew and I are ushered into a room and sitting on a wooden chair slouched over is small, fragile Gul Meena. Her sullen eyes turn from the raindrops streaming down the window outside and towards us as we enter the room.

Gul's bright coloured headscarf is embroidered with blue, red and green flowers and covers most of her face. She nervously plays with it and gives us a glimpse of a frightened smile from underneath the fabric. Her guardian Anisa, from the shelter run by Women for Afghan Women, touches her head and gently moves the headscarf back. That's when we see the scars etched deeply into her face.

This Pakistani girl's life of misery and suffering began at the tender age of 12, when instead of going to school she was married to a man old enough to be her grandfather. She says: "My family married me off when I was 12 years old. My husband was 60. Every day he would beat me. I would cry and beg him stop. But he just kept on beating me." (Continue Reading.)

Peer Khairi Found Guilty of Murdering Wife for Adopting Western Values

Muslim organizations, the media, and politicians continue assuring us that honor killings have nothing to do with Islam. Yet more than 90% of all honor killings are committed by Muslims. Why the connection?

CANADA--A Toronto man who stabbed his wife and slashed her throat four years ago was found guilty of second-degree murder on Sunday.

Peer Khairi, 65, sobbed quietly with his head down when the verdict was read in court, days after the jury first began its deliberations last Thursday.

His wife, Randjida Khairi, died in March 2008. She was 53 years old.

Assistant Crown Attorney Robert Kenny said the jury heard four weeks of evidence during the trial, including three days of testimony from Khairi himself. . . .

During the trial, Khairi had claimed that he killed his wife in self-defence, alleging that she had tried to attack him with a knife.

The Crown argued that Khairi was angry with his wife and children for adopting more Western values after coming to Canada from Afghanistan. (Continue Reading.)

For the real connection between honor killings and Islam, be sure to watch our ABN special:

Algerian Man Honor Kills Daughter for Having Photos of Actors on Her Cell Phone

But don't ever forget that all cultures are equal.

ALGERIA--An Algerian man used a kitchen knife to slaughter his 16-year-old daughter after discovering pictures of American and Turkish actors in her mobile phone.

The man, identified as B. Majeed, sent his second wife and her children to her family so he could be left alone with his teen age daughter, Lidya.

“After finding photographs of some American and Turkish actors in her mobile phone, the father decided to kill his daughter and made plans for the murder,” the Algerian Arabic language daily Al Nahar said.

“When he was alone with her at home, he grabbed her and put the knife on her neck…he then slaughtered her like a sheep.”

The paper said the man, who had Lidya from his first wife, then phoned the police and surrendered to them. (Source)

If you didn't catch our ABN special on honor killings, be sure to watch it:

Honor Killings in Islam

This is our ABN special on Honor Killings (with special guests Pamela Geller and Darwin Jiles).



For more on honor killings, read Phyllis Chesler's article in The Middle East Quarterly, "Worldwide Trends in Honor Killings." Also be sure to read Pamela Geller's posts on honor killings.

Everyone who takes this topic seriously should plan to attend the Jessica Mokdad Human Rights Conference in Dearborn.

Pakistani Man "Honor" Kills Two Sisters for Disobedience

Think about this for a moment. Honor killings are obviously accepted by many people in the Muslim world. Many of these Muslims immigrate to the West. When they get here, we're told that it's "racist," "bigoted," and "Islamophobic" to challenge their cultural views. And now honor killings are on the rise in the West. Anyone surprised?

SARGODHA, PAKISTAN--Kot Momin police have registered a murder case against a man accused of killing his two sisters after they were declared kari by a jirga.

Investigation Officer SI Rab Nawaz said a team had been formed to arrest the suspect, Farman, 27, who had fled the area after killing his sisters – Kahkshan, 20, and Afshan, 24. He said the FIR had been registered on a complaint filed by Rana Qadeer, father of the deceased girls. The bodies had been sent for a post mortem examination.

Police said the jirga had been held after the two girls had returned home from Lahore over a week ago.

He quoted the family as saying that they had persuaded the girls to return by assuring them of their safety. But, he said, they later organised a jirga which decided that it was a matter of honour and pardoning the deceased would bring disgrace to the family. The women were then strangled by their brother on directives of the jirga at their home in Mohllah Dak-Khana.

Police said the two women had fled home and moved to Lahore over a month ago. They said there was no information about the women’s motive behind fleeing home or the person with whom they stayed in Lahore.

They said the family had sought intervention of their contacts in Lahore to persuade the women to return home.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Imran, a cousin of the deceased women, justified their killing.

He said the women had deserved the punishment for showing disobedience to elders. He said everyone in the family was unanimous in declaring them kari. (Source)

Muslim Attempts to Murder Daughter for Being Disobedient . . . in Arizona

Even though he didn't succeed in killing her, the girl's father, mother, and sister held her down and tortured her.

The glories of multiculturalism.

PHOENIX – An Iraqi mother accused of beating her teenage daughter for not going along with an arranged marriage pleaded not guilty Monday in a case police said involved burning the teen on her face and chest with a hot spoon.

Yusra Farhan, 50, entered the plea to charges of aggravated assault, unlawful imprisonment and resisting arrest.

The daughter, 19, refused to participate in an arranged marriage with a 38-year-old man, authorities said.

Two other defendants, the victim's sister, 18-year-old Tabarak Altameemi, and father, 45-year-old Mohammed Altameemi, also pleaded not guilty to assault and unlawful imprisonment.

MyFoxPhoenix.com cited court records showing that on Feb. 7 Mohammed Altameemi got mad at his daughter because she left night class with a boy. The father picked her up at school and took her home.

He is accused of cutting his daughter’s neck with a knife. Police say he admitted he was trying to kill her, but Tabarak Altameemi intervened.

They, other siblings and Farhan then allegedly taped the 19-year-old's mouth, bound her hands and body with rope and beat her.

The altercation over the arranged marriage occurred in November, MyFoxPhoenix.com reported. At that time, the victim's sisters and mom allegedly held her down and beat her, with Farhan accused of putting a hot spoon against her daughter's face and chest.

"I swear I didn't hurt her, only slightly, just like any parent would do to their children. Nobody would hurt their own children. You can ask her if she can be here with me," Farhan told a judge, according to a translation. (Source)

Muslim Receives Two-Year Sentence for Torturing and Murdering Daughters for "Honor"

Media whitewashes Islam in three . . . two . . .

IRAQ--Near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, a father doused his three teenage daughters with boiling water and shot them because, he told a court, he suspected they were having sex. Two died.

He said he killed them to defend his honor.

Murder in Iraq can carry a death sentence but under laws that activists say are far too lenient for so-called “honor killings”, the father was jailed for just two years. Medical examinations showed the girls were virgins.

The light sentence was a result of Article 409 of Iraq’s penal code which is often used in cases of “honor killings” by men. Women’s activists in Iraq, led by the only woman in Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s cabinet, Minister of State for Women’s Affairs Ibtihal al-Zaidi, are lobbying to change the law.

But they say they face entrenched tribal values in a country where parliament includes many men from conservative parties.

For decades Iraqi women have enjoyed more freedoms than women in many other countries in the Middle East. They are generally free from the strict enforcement of dress codes or restrictions on movement, and can join political life.

But conservative tribal norms still prevail and all too often girls or women are punished by relatives for what are perceived to be crimes of honor. (Read more.)

Did you catch that? Honor killings have nothing to do with Islam. Instead, they are the result of "tribal values." Anyone ever noticed that the same "tribal values" affect women across the Muslim world, even though they all come from different tribes? What's the only common factor in these killings?

Michael Coren and Phyllis Chesler Discuss Honor Killings