Dishonorable Killings

The practice of relatives murdering those who they perceive to have dishonored their families is unfortunately far more widespread than we'd like to hope for. While some call the practice honor killings, I'd prefer calling them dishonorable murders, because that's exactly what they are.

The person commiting the murder is the one engaged in the dishonor, not the woman (and it invariably is the woman) who did something to offend their family. Sometimes, the act of "dishonor" is wearing clothes that are too revealing.

Sometimes, it's being seen with a boy.

Sometimes, it's going against their father's wishes.

The net result, however, is the murder of a family relative.

The latest such event took place this week in Texas.

isters, Amina, 18, and Sarah, 17, were each shot to death. Friends of the girls say their father was Egyptian and critical of popular American lifestyles. "I'm definitely 100% sure that it was her dad that killed her," said Kathleen Wong, a friend of the dead teenagers.

Wong says the girl's father was verbally abusive and that Sarah, especially, lived in fear. "She's always told me that she was always so scared of her dad," says Wong. "Even at school if a teacher joked around like, 'I'm gonna tell your parents about this', she would like totally flip out and start crying like, 'please don't tell'." (Emphasis added)

This is a problem especially within the Muslim community, where women who do not follow Sharia are likely to find themselves on the receiving end of a whole lot of pain and misery.

Police are loathe to call this a honor killing, and instead ascribe it to domestic issues, but when you look at the totality of the circumstance, the possibility that this was dishonor murder grows significantly.

Others blogging: Hot Air, Ace, The Jawa Report, Jammie, Debbie Schlussel, and Pamela at Atlas Shrugs.