Parveen Bibi

Case details

Parveen Bibi was convicted of murdering Zeenat Rafiq by burning her to death in an honour killing. She was sentenced to death on January 15, 2017.

Timeline

• June 9, 2016 — Zeenat Rafiq, aged 18, was burned alive in Lahore after Parveen Bibi, her mother, and other family members tied her to a cot, doused her in kerosene, and set her alight.
• January 15, 2017 — Parveen Bibi was sentenced to death.

Background

Zeenat Rafiq was 18 years old when she was killed. The killing was connected to Zeenat Rafiq’s decision to marry a man of her own choice. The family disapproved of Zeenat Rafiq marrying Hassan Khan, described as an ethnic Pashtun, while Zeenat Rafiq was described as Punjabi. Hassan Khan was a motorcycle mechanic.

Parveen Bibi was Zeenat Rafiq’s mother. Zeenat Rafiq’s younger sister was Naseem Bibi. Zeenat Rafiq’s sister Shazia also commented on the killing.

The offence

Zeenat Rafiq was tied to a cot, doused in kerosene, and set on fire in the family home in Lahore. After the killing, Parveen Bibi went outside into the street and shouted to neighbours that she had killed Zeenat Rafiq for bringing shame on her family, while beating her chest.

Zeenat Rafiq’s husband Hassan Khan described earlier abuse, including that on the day Zeenat Rafiq eloped there was “blood on her nose and on her lips” and that she was in distress and asked him to take her away and marry her.

Verbatim statements attributed to family members and participants:

• Parveen Bibi (shouting after killing): “People! I have killed my daughter for misbehaving and giving our family a bad name.”
• Hassan Khan: “After living with me for four days following our marriage, her family contacted us and promised they would throw us a proper wedding party after eight days. Then we would be able live together.”
• Hassan Khan: “Zeenat was unwilling to go back to her home and told me that she would be killed by her family, but later agreed when one of her uncles guaranteed her safety.”
• Hassan Khan: “The day we eloped she had been abused, there was blood on her nose and on her lips.”
• Hassan Khan: “She was in distress; she asked me to take her away and marry her.”
• Hassan Khan: “After two days, she called me and said that her family had gone back on their word and asked me to come to get her, but I told her to wait for the promised eight days. Then, she was killed.”
• Shahida Khan: “We called up her uncle and he told us that they will bring her back to us themselves -- we trusted them,”
• Shahida Khan: “My son started screaming and crying. ... He said that, 'Now that she's dead, I'm going to leave this world as well.'”
• Shahida Khan: “There should be justice. How could they be so heartless and kill this girl? She was our child now; she married our son.”
• Shahida Khan: “We woke up yesterday and found out that they had burned Zeenat,”
• Khan’s mother Shahida Khan: “Our mother became distressed because of her daughter's disobedience and because she felt there was no man in the house to rein her in.”
• Khan’s mother Shahida Khan (describing the family’s promise): “We called up her uncle and he told us that they will bring her back to us themselves -- we trusted them,”

Investigation and evidence

Police officials said investigations were based on circumstantial evidence and involved awaiting official post-mortem results. Police seized kerosene oil from the scene and collected forensic evidence from the crime scene. Police recorded statements of eyewitnesses and removed the body to a morgue for autopsy.

An autopsy released indicated traces of smoke in Zeenat Rafiq’s respiratory tract, indicating she was alive when set ablaze. The autopsy also included that Zeenat Rafiq had been strangled and that there were strangulation marks on her neck, as described by Shahida Khan.

Police described Parveen Bibi as having confessed to the crime. Police also said other family members had confessed, while one brother was on the run. Police were reported as searching for Rafique’s brother because “an old woman cannot perform this act alone.”

Arrest

Parveen Bibi turned herself in to authorities and was held on suspicion of murder. She was in police custody in relation to the killing.

Trial

Parveen Bibi was convicted of burning to death Zeenat Rafiq. The conviction was reported as occurring about a week after Zeenat Rafiq’s marriage.

Prosecutor Abdur Rauf said judge Chaudhry Ilyas convicted Parveen Bibi of burning Zeenat Rafiq a week after her marriage to Hassan Khan. Rauf said the court sentenced Anees Rafique, the victim’s brother, to life in prison for helping his mother kill his 18-year-old sister.

Defense lawyer Shahid Iqbal said Anees Rafique had no role in the killing and was wrongly convicted.

Sentencing

Parveen Bibi was sentenced to death on January 15, 2017.

Outcome

Parveen Bibi received a death sentence.

Other details

Hassan Khan stated the couple had been married for 11 days at the time of the killing and that they spent three days together as husband and wife before Zeenat Rafiq was persuaded to return to her family home temporarily.

Hassan Khan said relatives guaranteed Zeenat Rafiq’s safety and that she was to return the following Thursday, but she was killed the day before.

At the time of the funeral described in Lahore, none of Zeenat Rafiq’s relatives sought to claim her body, leaving Hasan Khan’s family to bury her charred remains before dawn.

For the killing, a case was registered against three suspects, including Zeenat Rafiq’s mother Parveen Bibi, Zeenat Rafiq’s brother Anees, and brother-in-law Mushtaq, on the complaint of her husband Hasan Khan under:

• Section 302 (premeditated murder)
• Section 336/8 of the Pakistan Penal Code

A Cantonment SP (operations) Abadat Nisar said circumstantial evidence suggested that Parveen was helped by her son and son-in-law, both on the run, in killing Zeenat Rafiq. Another police official also said Parveen and other family members had confessed and that police had seized kerosene oil from the scene.

Politicians and activists condemned the killing. Rights activist Hina Gilani in Lahore was quoted about law and society. Senator Sherry Rehman called for the federal government to detail steps to prevent such violence and was quoted about women facing violence despite legislation.

Additional contextual statements in the material included that Nearly 1,000 women are killed each year in so-called “honour killings” in Pakistan for allegedly violating conservative norms on love and marriage, and that more than 1,100 honour killings were reported in 2015 by the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. The material also referred to Pakistan’s parliament passing legislation against “honour killings” in October, three months after the murder of Qandeel Baloch.