Dad kills daughter, 16 because she "wanted to be 'free'"
 

When someone dies because of it.

In all honesty the dad probably thought he was being a good father as she was the youngest of 8 and the others probably had similar rules (although the male-female rules are probably different) so even if she'd grown up with those rules until she turned 18 it's not necesssarily "too strict."

Her murder however is terrible and tragic.

:eek:.....WTF!?!?!

wow.
What a sad story. :(

Every time I read one of these stories, I feel so angry, both because it only fuels the perception that immigrants from South Asia are somehow backwards and cling to their barbaric customs such as honor killings (and I'm not for a moment suggesting that behavior like this man's is at all permissible), and anger because the community STILL refuses to acknowledge it, to try and empower its women not to tolerate this kind of abuse, to create support networks and help women escape these situations instead of turning a blind eye. We can only be the change we want to see in the world, nobody else can do it for us, but I don't know when the day will come that the South Asian community finally says 'enough is enough, we need to do something about this problem.'

You know, it's quite possible that she'd have to live with these rules even after she turned 18. With a dad like that, it would have not been likely that she'd be allowed to go away to school.

This took place in Canada, and I'm not familar with Canada's laws, but I thought that 18 was still the age of "adulthood" - she may not have been "allowed" to go away for school, but there wouldn't have been anything her dad could have done to stop her at that point. The article said she had lived in a shelter, so obviously, she would have done what it takes to get out on her own, even if that means being homeless.

Many of the girls killed by parents or relatives were adults over 18 years of age. In any case, when you live with your parents, whether you're 6 or 46, you're still a "child" to them and live by "their rules." Even if she lived in a shelter, it's quite possible that someone can find her, especially if she's going to school. Many immigrant communities are very tight-knit.

This is just ridiculous!!!

You're missing my point. It's possible that if she made it to 18, she would have taken off, full speed ahead - possibly to another provence on the other side of the country, and never looked back, and there would have been nothing her dad could have done to stop her.

right...but her *brother* tricked her into coming home for a change of clothes!!!!!! This was all premeditated! Her brother should be charged as well.

It is all about family "honor" and what constitutes disgrace. How killing your willful daughter restores family honor and removes disgrace is beyond me...

I'm not sure why you quoted me, since this still has nothing to do with leaving with the intent of never returning, but since you did...

Where did you get the idea that her brother tricked her, and that the murder was premeditated? Her brother might not have been acting under direction from the father, and you can't tell either way from the article. Also, if the murder was premeditated, the father probably wouldn't have called 911.

I totally agree! How can a parent think discipline goes to the point of death. So if you do not obey I will kill you. How about kicking them out of the house if it is too bad. I am still looking like :eek: about this story.

If she had left with the intent to never return, why did she return to her house with her brother? Her brother brought her back to the house to "get a change of clothes", ok, granted he was acting on his father's request.

from an article: http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/14831144/detail.html

""“She got threatened by her father and her brother,” Dominiquia Holmes-Thompson told the newsaper. “He said that if she leaves, he would kill her.”""

Still that makes the meeting at the house "prearranged", does it not? Her father called 911 AFTER the assault resulting in death had occurred. She was apparently strangled or beaten. Either instance *someone* else has to inflict the injuries resulting in death.

I still don't understand how killing your daughter restores family honor.

I DON'T think she had the intent never to return.

I also don't understand, if you don't want your children to be exposed to/adopt western ways, why move to a western nation? If he was so determined to raise his children with his culture and traditions, why leave Pakistan? Because a teenager is a teenager, no matter where they are, and they will absorb and want what they're exposed to and what their friends have and get to do.

I hope this creep burns in hell...so, pretty much the same way I feel about any "parent" who murders their child.

I understand that she may not have just been able to walk out the door at 18, however at 18 she could do so legally. I didn't read more on this, but it doesn't appear there was "abuse" before hand just very strict rules. But the things many parents do are emotionally abusive.

Also many abused women return home for whatever reason, even if they say they're leaving forever. Her brother may or may not have been in on the whole thing, he may have wanted to help punish her, but not kill her. Sadly a LOT of cruel things happen in families and you don't have to be an immigrant or of a minority culture to be stuck in an abusive home.

It makes the family look bad, shameful in the eyes of the community.

Understood, however people(westerners) don't seem to realize had she done that, she will, for the rest of her life, be looking over her shoulder no matter where she fled to.

I'm appalled and disgusted. That is not what morals and protecting your children is all about.

Still seems like a better alternative than going back.

Honestly, every one who leaves an abusive situation looks over their shoulder like that. A generalization maybe, but overall true.

Best article or commentary on the tragedy and attendant debate I have seen - or at least the best one I think in hitting the right points:

Like the article points out it was more the backwards patriarchal cultural crap that led to this than religion, it's just that many seem over eager to point the finger at religion in this case :(

PS> For the political watchers down south: did Huckabee really say that? Because wow :eek:

Thanks for posting the article. My heart is sad for her and others going through the same thing.

Of course it's cultural, but oftentimes, religion and culture are almost indistinguishable. Headgear (for men AND for women), for example, may not officially officially be part of a religion, but it's still considered part of a religion by certain cultures. I could start a religion that says "everyone must be well-fed" and years down the line certain people from this religion are very overweight, because they believe that being "well fed" means they need to eat a lot. Others may interpret "well-fed" as just eating well and eating enough.

Anyway, I'm surprised no one has compared any of this to Warren Jeffs/Bountiful, B.C. I just don't want people to see this case as just another child abuse/domestic abuse/violence against women case, because cultural misunderstanding may very well have played a role in Aqsa's death (unlike say, the Pickton case) In Canada, many of the higher profile victims in violence against women cases in larger cities, especially those involving a spouse or blood relative, involve either immigrant women/women whose parents are immigrants.

By the way, the girl's brother gets bail.

Ugh. At least the father's still in jail.

It's a shame then that the statistics don't bear that out - if anything they point to a higher incidence of spousal abuse and homicide amongst the native populations in the Territories than that of the most heavily immigrant regions of Canada:

http://www.statcan.ca/english/freepu...XIE2007000.pdf

I totally agree.

It's the lack of social services geared towards the population, I'd think. For native and many immigrant populations, standard/mainstream programs don't always work.

As a tolerant western nation Canada should be more sensitive to other cultures beliefs. To not let this man "honor kill" his daughter is a gross attack against his religious.........:rolleyes: