Women’s Deaths Spark New Debate About ‘Honor’ Killings

By Guest Column Penny Starr —— Bio and Archives January 16, 2008

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The New Year ended just hours after it began for Sarah and Amina Yaser Said, who were found shot to death Jan.1 in Lewisville, Tex., in a taxi owned by their father, Yaser Abdel Said. Said is suspected of the double murder of his 17- and 18-year-old daughters and is still at large.

In December, 16-year-old Aqsa Parvez, a Pakistani Canadian living in Mississauga, Ontario, was allegedly strangled by her father, Muhammed Parvez. He also has apparently confessed to police, according to Canadian Broadcasting Corporation News and other Canadian media. But were these young women just the latest victims of domestic violence or were they killed to defend the honor of their families -- "honor killings"? Sarah and Amina's great aunt, Gail Gartrell, told reporters, "This was an honor killing." Friends of the young women said their father didn't approve of them dating. In Aqsa Parvez's case, her refusal to cover her head with a hijab apparently led to her death, according to the National Post. More...