Actress In Harry Potter Movies Nearly Victim of Honor Killing

Afshan Azad, the actress who plays Padma Patil in the Harry Potter movies was allegedly attacked and threatened by her father and brother over Azad's relationship with an unnamed man. The brother is also accused of assaulting her.

Afshan Azad, 22, who has appeared in four of the blockbuster movies as Padma Patil, is now believed to be staying with friends in London.

Her father Abdul Azad, 54, and brother Ashraf Azad, 28, both of Longsight in Manchester, were arrested and charged.

Both are accused of threatening to kill her.

Ashraf Azad is also accused of assaulting his sister causing her actual bodily harm.

They appeared at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday and the case was adjourned until July 12 for committal proceedings to crown court.

They had been in custody until this week’s court appearance when they were bailed.

As part of their bail conditions, they have to abide by an 11pm to 6am curfew and must not travel to London or contact an unnamed man.

Miss Azad lived with her father, mother Nilofar and her three brothers.

This has all the hallmarks of a threatened honor killing. Honor killings are common in parts of South Asia, including among Bengalis (the region straddling Bangladesh and India). It is also common among Muslim populations.

Here's hoping that both her father and brother are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Despite moving to the UK, some population groups cling to these barbaric notions of family dishonor and hope to impose all manner of restrictions and strictures on women. Those who don't toe that strict line are subject to violence, as in Azad's case.

You Don't Say: NYS Beheadings May Have Been Honor Killing

Chalk one up to the blatantly obvious. There's nothing honorable about honor killings, and yet they continue all over the world on a regular basis. They are far more uncommon in the United States, but from time to time such criminal acts do make headlines.

In this case, it's a particularly brutal honor killing where the man beheaded his wife.

The gruesome death of Orchard Park resident Aasiya Zubair Hassan — who was found decapitated — and the arrest of her estranged husband are drawing widespread attention, as speculation roils about the role that the couple’s religion may have played.

Muzzammil Hassan, 44, was arrested Thursday and charged with second- degree murder after telling police his wife was dead at the office of their television station in the Village of Orchard Park.

While Muslim leaders have urged against applying cultural stereotypes to the crime, advocates for women linked the killing to attitudes in Muslim societies.

“This was apparently a terroristic version of honor killing, a murder rooted in cultural notions about women’s subordination to men,” said Marcia Pappas, New York State president of the National Organization for Women.

She decried the scant national media attention paid to the story, which broke the same day as the commuter plane crash that killed 50 people in Clarence.

While domestic violence affects all cultures, Muslim women find it harder to break the silence about it because of a stigma, she said.

“Too many Muslim men are using their religious beliefs to justify violence against women,” she said.

Women are treated little better than chattel under Islamic law, and misogyny is part and parcel of Sharia. Offenses that could trigger honor killing include appearing in the presence of other unrelated men or behaving in a way that Islamists deem inappropriate.

In this case, Aasiya Zubair Hassan may have been brutally murdered because she was seeking a divorce from her abusive husband, Muzzammil. There had been numerous reports of domestic violence, so it is also possible that she was murdered simply because she disobeyed her husband.

What makes this all the more egregious is that Muzzammil Hassan is the founder of Bridges TV, a Muslim agitprop broadcast network funded by the Saudis to spread the message about Islam. I guess Muzzammil knew what to do about his wife since Sharia allows husbands to beat their wives for being disobedient.

It is also good to see that the National Organization of Women and other womens rights groups are finally starting to speak out against the honor killings and violence against women in the Muslim community. Faster please.

The story is also starting to generate international press and more media coverage as details of the brutal murder come to light.

Women on Women reports the details, but seems to get the concept of honor killings and who is actually shamed wrong.

Indeed it’s not, but often times these beheadings and other such crimes are often also ironically referred to as "honor killings" when linked to the Muslim culture. The irony? They bring dishonor upon the perpetrators, their families, their communities and their religion.

The perpetrators, families and their communities do not feel any dishonor from murdering those who have violated the Islamic laws - disobeying the husband being a prime example. They believe they have done nothing wrong. It is wishful thinking and projection to write that they are somehow dishonored.

If honor killings truly brought dishonor to those who committed the acts, the families involved, and the greater community, you would see more outreach and outspoken opposition to the practice, but for much of the world, this is a way of life that is not going to change because it comes from the Koran itself and if it is written in the Koran, any attempts to alter the definitions or meanings can lead to being threatened with apostasy (itself punishable by death).

UPDATE:
AP reports that Muzzammil Hassan was a gentle sort of guy and dismisses the idea of this being an honor killing because it is uncommon in the US. Sadly, the AP doesn't quite follow the growing trend of honor killings in the US and that the victims aren't always wives, but the daughters and girlfriends - but the brutal deaths are no less horrific. Charles at LGF highlights a very damning portrait of honor killings, the motivations, and the rising numbers in the West and how Islam plays a strong role in a report by Phyllis Chesler.

Relative Claims Dallas Murders Were Honor Killings

These two girls, Sarah and Amina Yaser Said, were murdered by their father, Yaser Abdel Said. While authorities have been tight lipped over the reason for their murder, relatives are being quiet no more and from the sound of things, Yaser had been abusive for quite some time:

Gail Gartrell, the sisters’ great-aunt, said Saturday that Mr. Said had physically abused the two girls for years. Around Christmas, the girls’ mother – Ms. Gartrell’s niece – had fled because of Mr. Said’s threats to kill the girls after he learned they had boyfriends, she said.

“She ran with them because she knew he would carry out the threat,” Ms. Gartrell said. “This was an honor killing.”

She said her niece returned after Mr. Said told her that he would move out so they could reconcile. Within a few days, she said, the girls were dead.

The girls' mother and brother deny that this was a honor killing, but if the aunt's claims are true, then they too could be cowed into silence for fear of reprisal by the father.

At the heart of this sad case is a man who was abusive towards his family - his own flesh and blood. The Fort Worth Telegram notes some background about Yaser's marriage to his wife - she was 15 and he was 30 when they married.

He remains on the loose. America's Most Wanted has put the spotlight on him (profile here). This murderous bastard needs to be brought to justice.

Michelle Malkin has much more.

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.