Supreme Court condemns violence against women who reject marriage proposals

A three-member Supreme Court bench, led by Justice Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar, ruled that a man who murdered a woman after she turned down his marriage proposal acted out of a bruised ego, labeling the act a profound shame for any civilized society. The court refused Muhammad Kamran’s appeal to convert his death sentence to life imprisonment, noting that the distinction lies in the original punishment, not the years already served.

The judgment condemned patriarchal traditions that deny women the right to freely choose a spouse, citing customs such as ghag, where a man claims a woman without consent, and other practices like suara and watta-satta that treat women as commodities. It referenced existing legislation that criminalises these customs and affirmed Pakistan’s obligations under CEDAW. The bench warned that accepting a woman’s refusal as provocation would legitimize gender-based violence.