Public Perception About Honour Killing: A Case Study Of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province – Pakistan

To regulate the male and female sexual conduct, every society has approved channels, based on cultural value. Those who violate these codes of conduct are subject to social penalty irrespective of gender. Honour Killing is a type of social penalty, awarded to the violator of Honour. The concept of Honour varies from society to society and culture to culture. It is associated with sexuality, money, property, country, dignity and women. It is believed that ten of hundreds of women and men are killed on the pretext of either having actual illicit sex or perceived sex relation. To probe the nature and causes of the issue, an empirical study was conducted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province has an estimated population of roughly 21 million. The largest ethnic group is the Pashtuns who form about twothirds of the population. Pushtun who are also spelled Pakhtun or Pathan. Pashtuns love strong moral character. They do not allow moral corruption. For this research qualitative and quantitative data was collected through structured and unstructured interview guide. A total of 60 respondents were selected through stratified and purposive sampling techniques. Similarly, in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 out of 60 respondents for obtaining genuine information on the issue. It was found; that Honour killing is culturally induced, practiced and demonstrated on violation of sexual code of conduct. It is an old practice which exists since time unknown. This practice has been projected by media and human rights activist. Religions have no place for such killing. Islam stresses on prevention from sexual deviancy. It is not a social problem of NWFP, because its frequency is low as compared to other social problems.