Honour Killings

The news was full of it. A trans girl had been tortured to death by her father, brothers and uncles in Lahore. What was so shocking to the civilised world was the men freely admitted their rôles in the matter and justified it by saying it was a matter of honour that the killing had had to take place. The prosecution case had been summarily dismissed and the men had walked free to virtually universal public acclaim in the Islamic world.

The non Islamic world was content to pronounce exclamations of horror and send letters of condemnation to any they could think of in Pakistan and its various embassies who, as always, completely ignored them. Actually it wasn’t all of the non Islamic world that was so content. The murdered girl had had a much older female cousin who had left Pakistan twenty-odd years before for college in the US, and as far as their family were aware she’d disappeared. None of her family was bothered at her disappearance, for she’d been a difficult child who’d, despite the frequent harsh beatings, constantly questioned and challenged authority and the male dominated society she’d been born into. Many considered her leaving for the States had saved them the trouble of having to kill her to ensure family and societal harmony. Much brighter than all her family and neighbours she was aware of her fate had she stayed and that was why she’d left. After obtaining her first degree, she’d become a Canadian citizen before transitioning to be completely the man she’d always been with what was a effectively a new identity. After much further study he’d become a highly regarded, and paid, judge who was widely believed would eventually become a judge for the Supreme Court of Canada.

The trans cousin heard about the events in Lahore. He knew the legal system he was so proud to be a part of had nothing to do with the way matters operated whence he’d originated, so planned accordingly. During a supposed four weeks fishing and hunting vacation in Alaska he’d taken a devious route back to his original home town in heavy disguise to slaughter his cousins, father and uncles after putting them through much worse than what his young cousin had suffered at their hands. Their broken and virtually bloodless corpses were found emasculated with their labelled testicles in each others’ mouths and their labelled penises up each others’ anuses. The bodies were covered in what a note explained was pig faeces because they were honour killings and the dead deserved no better. Janna, Paradise with its attendant virgins, was no longer a possibility for them. Possibly, the note said, if lucky they could copulate with sows by licking, or if not as was more likely, they would be perpetually raped by boars of hell.

When the cousin returned back home via Alaska, he was asked by his colleagues, “How did the hunting in Alaska go? Did you get what you wanted?”

“Oh yes. It was a one hundred percent successful trip. Most gratifying. Completely in the wilderness, I never saw a soul for over three weeks. I can thoroughly recommend it to de-stress from the pressures of city life and to become at peace once again with your inner self and truly put your world to rights.” He laughed before adding, “And it’s much cheaper than seeing a therapist. I went fishing first and I was really surprised that I enjoyed that more than the hunting, it’s very calming, and working out where to catch the big ones you’re really after is actually more satisfying than finally hooking, fighting and landing them. I was almost tempted to return some to the water, but sadly I couldn’t make myself do that because I’ve been a hunter all my life and have always derived considerable satisfaction from providing my family with meat for the table.

“I’ve not much time for any who fishes just to throw them back, for some of the fish will die anyway and it seems cruel to me. To me it seems if you go out with the intention to fish or to hunt the only moral thing to do is kill and dispose of the carcasses appropriately, which in the case of fish and meat involves the freezer, the oven and the dining table. My wife was most impressed by what I sent back home and has suggested we throw a party to celebrate my success for both our sets of work colleagues. I believe salmon and moose will be on the menu. Doubtless she’ll be contacting your wives concerning the arrangements.

“Funnily enough, though I enjoyed hunting a lot before moving here, this was the first time I’ve ever done any serious fishing. Next year I may just go for the fishing, but I think I’ll try to find a buddy or six to go with, and I’ll make sure my wife’s work doesn’t prevent her going with me, for I’m sure she’d have been glad of the opportunity to demonstrate that women deserve to be treated equally. I know she can’t shoot quite as well as I, but she’s a much more experienced fisher, and fishing and hunting on your own, though satisfying in many ways, has its drawbacks.”

The populace in Lahore was outraged by the events, but none outside the Muslim world gave a damn, for most considered it to be a natural justice that wouldn’t have been necessary in a civilised society where ‘honour killings’ were just murder.