Honour killings rising in Britain

London:Britain is witnessing a rise in the number of honour killings since the July 7 bombings.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has said that the bombing, which killed 52 people in London, were planted by British Islamist bombers. That has led some Muslim families to resort to honour killings.

Mr Nazir Afzal, director of the CPS, West London said that there have been at least a dozen honour killings in the past one year.

"I have certainly seen more cases of honour crime since July 7. When communities perceive themselves to be under threat they tend to turn in on themselves, regardless of whether that perception has any basis in fact," Afzal added.

"They try to restore and reinforce their own social norms. They put pressure on their own members to conform, and if they don't conform there is sometimes some kind of retribution," he said.

However, the CPS stresses that honour crime is not only confined to Muslims.

"I'm aware of crimes being committed in Eastern Europe, North Africa, the West Asia, Brazil, Spain, France, Italy, and also within those communities in this country," Afzal said.

In London, Rukhsana Naz was 19 when her mother pinned her to the floor of their family house and her brother strangled her with a length of plastic cable.

Sahjda Bibi, 21, was preparing to celebrate her wedding when her cousin stabbed her 22 times with a kitchen knife.

The father of 16-year-old Heshu Yones slit her throat because he disapproved of her Western habits and non-Muslim boyfriend.

All were victims of 'honour killings', murdered by relatives who believed they had brought shame on their families through their behaviour or choice of boyfriend, husband or lover.

Until recently, honour crime was rarely reported and often misunderstood in Britain, viewed as something, which happened elsewhere mainly in the Middle East or southern Asia.

killing on rise

While young women are the primary victims of honour crimes, two court cases have shown how men have been targeted too.

In early November, two brothers aged 16 and 19 were convicted of murdering a British Iranian because their family disapproved of his relationship with their sister.

The brothers, from an ethnic Bangladeshi family, stopped their victim in his car, pinned him to the seat and stabbed him 46 times in the chest.

Less than three weeks later, a Muslim man was convicted of hacking a 21-year-old Afghan to death with a scimitar after finding out he was having a relationship with his sister.

Honour crimes, often carried out behind closed doors in tight-knit communities, are notoriously difficult to prevent, and police say they struggle to garner enough evidence to bring suspects to trial.

Two years ago, London's police force set up a task force to tackle the issue and it is re-examining over 100 unsolved murder cases to see if they may have been honour crimes, even though they were not recognised as such at the time.

The government is also considering changing the law to make forced marriage a criminal offence.

Ultimately though, campaigners say that what is needed to bring an end to honour crimes is a change of attitude among more conservative elements within some of Britain's communities.

Until then, young girls and women like Rukhsana Naz, Sahjda Bibi and Heshu Yones will remain at risk.