A New York teen girl was murdered in Pakistan by her father in what's been called by authorities an "honor killing" over her "immodest" TikTok posts. Hira Anwar was 14-years-old when she boarded a flight for what she believed was a family vacation. On Monday night, her father and uncle shot her to death.
Her father, Anwar ul-Haq, confessed to the killing in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, a province in the southwest part of the nation, after first saying the perpetrators were unidentified men. He said that she had "brought shame to the family by posting what he called inappropriate videos online," per The New York Times. Ul-Haq was charged with the murder of his daughter.
Her family, per police, "had an objection to her dressing, lifestyle and social gathering." Her phone is in the hands of investigators but it is locked. The uncle was also arrested in the killing.
If ul-Haq is convicted in his daughter's death, he will face a mandatory life sentence. This comes after a 2016 law instituted the mandatory term. Prior to that, those who undertook so-called honor killings could seek pardons from their victim's family as a way to avoid jail at all.
The Pakistan Observer had a different perspective on the case, writing on Facebook "A 17-year-old Hira Anwar, who recently returned from the U.S., was fatally shot outside her home on Balochi Street for making TikTok videos in Quetta Police have arrested her father, uncle, and maternal uncle, who have confessed to the crime. Authorities revealed that Hira, an American citizen, was warned against posting videos but refused, angering her father and male relatives. SHO Babar Baloch confirmed that her father, Inwar-ul-Haq, conspired with his brother-in-law, Tayeb Ali, to carry out the murder. The maternal uncle allegedly fired the fatal shot. Hira’s body was transported for post-mortem before being handed over to her family. The case has been referred to the Serious Crime Investigation Wing for further inquiry."
While the BBC reports that the family had moved back to Pakistan after being in the US for 25 years, the New York Times states that Anwar was on a family trip to her parents' home nation. The BBC states that "Hira started posting content on TikTok even before her family moved back to Pakistan."
A South Asian news broadcast said that "the app's popularity is proving fatal for young girls who live in conservative societies."
Sakhi, a New York-based non-profit "for South Asian survivors," posted about the killing, saying "Sakhi is heartbroken and outraged by the killing of 14-year-old Hira Anwar, a Pakistani-American from New York who was shot to death by her father on Monday, January 27th, while visiting family in Quetta, Pakistan." Addressing the notion of "honor killing," Sakhi notes that the reality is that "gender-based violence" is rampant in a culture that "has long controlled the autonomy of women and girls..."
Independent rights group the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan recorded "588 so-called honor killings in Pakistan in 2024, up from 490 in 2023 and nearly matching the 590 reported in 2022." Women and girls have been murdered by family members for refusing to submit to arranged marriages, for seeking divorce from husbands they wed through forced marriages, and in this case, over clothing, lifestyle, and social media posts.
