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Article: In Pakistan, Women Pay The Price of 'Honor'; Maiming, Killing Accepted Response To Perceived Sins
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- May 8, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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Zahida Perveen's head is shrouded in a white cotton veil, which
she self-consciously tightens every few moments. But when she reaches
down to pick up her baby daughter, the veil falls away to reveal the
face of one of Pakistan's most horrific social ills, broadly known as
"honor" crimes.
Perveen's eyes are empty sockets of unseeing flesh, her earlobes
have been sliced off, and her nose is a gaping, reddened stump of
bone. Sixteen months ago, her husband, in a fit of rage over her
alleged affair with a brother-in-law, bound her hands and feet and
slashed her with a razor and knife. She was three months' pregnant at
the time.
"He came home from the mosque and accused me of having a bad ...