Heinous Crimes Report May – December 2014

INTRODUCTION

Since May 2014, The Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) began collecting data on heinous crimes from the local press covering the national spectrum.  These are the crimes committed by those who, in most of the cases, are not necessarily career criminals or militants. Yet, they indulge in such offences because of the values and traditions they consider as a license for their crimes. During the eight months of 2014, almost every day a heinous crime was committed in the country and if we look at the number of casualties of these crimes the victims are more than one per day.

Errors and omissions, a possibility in all statistical works, can occur.  However, such mistakes do not grossly affect the basic objective of this report.

NOTE: All data is from May – December, 2014.

Report prepared by:

Mohammad Nafees

Senior Research Fellow

Center for Research and Security Studies

NOTE:  Readers can approach CRSS for source of any information included in the report.  Please send your requests/comments/questions to: mail@crss.pk.

LIST OF ACRONYMS

CRIMES REPORT-0115

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

FATALITIES AND INJURIES OF HEINOUS CRIMES

The data collected on the subject is a good explanation of what we consider as heinous crimes. Tables 01 and 02 below show what kinds of crime were committed during the period and the individuals who committed them.  Out of 238 occurrences of heinous crimes, 108 were committed by close relatives[1] or blood relations[2], a figure close to 50% of the total number (table 02).

CRIMES REPORT-0215

CRIMES REPORT-0315

Another aspect is the vulnerability of the victims of these crimes.  Among all victims of heinous crimes, minor children are the highest affected. The age of child victims ranges from 3 to 12 years and more than one third of them are between 3 to 5 years of age. Gender distribution of these victims is 19 female and 17 male, showing that the gender identity was less important than their age that made them vulnerable to become victims of such crimes.

CRIMES REPORT-0415

HEINOUS CRIMES – AFFECTED LOCATIONS 

The province of Punjab had the highest number of victims of heinous crime during the period under review, followed by Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (KP), Sindh, Balochistan, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), and Islamabad.  Interestingly, there is almost no correlation with violence data in the CRSS Security Reports[3].  For example, in 2014, Punjab had the lowest number of fatalities from violence among all administrative regions of the country. The province of Sindh and FATA that always record the highest number of fatalities from violence, appear to have a different trend in heinous crimes rate. They fall at third and fifth level among other provinces in terms of the number of events (table 03).

Heinous Crimes – Punjab

Four main districts of Punjab, including its capital, are the highest affected.  Even Karachi, the most populous and most violent district in all of Pakistan, appears to be least affected of this crime when compared with other districts of the country.  Out of 46 locations in the Punjab, 35 were found to have experienced one or more than one incidents of heinous crime while in the case of violence-related incidents only 25 locations were found affected.  The13 districts in Punjab that had fatalities from heinous crimes had no fatalities from violence during the entire year of 2014 (table 05). Thirteen districts show no fatalities from violence where fatalities from heinous crimes are reported.

Table 04: Fatalities from violence and heinous crimes in Punjab – 2014  
# Districts Fatality-violence Fatality-heinous Casualty-heinous
1 Lahore 125 14 28
2 Faisalabad 37 10 25
3 Gujranwala 17 12 20
4 Multan 8 7 17
5 Bahawalpur 17 8 14
6 Rajanpur 5 8 13
7 Jhang 2 4 10
8 Okara 7 3 8
9 Gujrat 4 5 6
10 Pakpattan 1 4 6
11 Burewala 0 1 5
12 Sialkot 1 5 5
13 Vehari 0 5 5
14 Hafizabad 2 4 5
15 Jaranwala 0 4 4
16 Chakwal 0 3 3
17 Rahim Yar Khan 4 1 5
18 Wah Cantt 3 0 3
19 Arifwala 0 2 2
20 Cheechawatni 0 1 2
21 Muzaffargarh 15 1 2
22 Sargodha 5 1 2
23 Toba Tek Singh 0 1 2
24 Daska 0 0 1
25 Hasilpur 0 0 1
26 Kasur 0 1 1
27 Khanewal 2 0 1
28 Lalamusa 0 1 1
29 Layyah 3 1 2
30 Malakwal 0 1 1
31 Narowal 0 1 1
32 Rawalpindi 31 1 1
33 Sadiqabad 0 0 1
34 Sahiwal 0 1 1
35 Sheikhupura 0 0 1
36 Attock 3 0 0
37 Bahawalnagar 0 0 0
38 Bhakkar 0 0 0
39 Chiniot 0 0 0
40 Dera Ghazi Khan 5 0 0
41 Jhelum 3 0 0
42 Khushab 0 0 0
43 Lodhran 0 0 0
44 Mandi Bahauddin 1 0 0
45 Mianwali 1 0 0
46 Nankana Sahib 5 0 0
Total 307 111 205
Note 1: The heinous crime data is from all of May-December 2014.
Note 2: The violence data is from all of 2014.

The nature of heinous crimes reported from Punjab shows that violence against women, honor killings, child abuse, and brutality are very high. The heinous crimes recorded across Pakistan can be listed in over 20 different categories, and 17 of them were found in Punjab alone.  No other province features so many of the heinous crime categories.

Among the victims of heinous crimes in Punjab, the highest number was of minor children at 21 casualties, followed by married couples at 17 (table 05). Even the infants suffered heinous crimes, the lowest age being just 6 months old.

Table 05: Victims of heinous crimes in Punjab – 2014
Victims Casualties
Minors 21
Married couples 17
Unknown women 30
Wives 13
Unknown men 11
Daughters 8
Jewelers 8
Kiln Laborers 7
Sisters 7
Wife and Daughter 6
Brothers 5
Ex-Wives 5
Ahmedis 4
Infants 4
Wife and stepson 4
Accomplices 3
Mothers and Children 3
Mother and Sisters 3
Policemen 3
Cattle Rustlers 3
Others 40
Total 205

The methods used for committing heinous crimes were; gunned down (20), acid attack (14), gang rape (14), murder (8), burnt alive (7), strangulated (6), beaten to death (6), and many others.  The causes that led the perpetrators to commit such crimes against the victims are vulnerability (52 events), love marriage (10), marriage refusal (4), alleged loose morals (4), suspected of affairs (3), domestic issues (2), and many others.

The perpetrators of these crimes were husbands (15), fathers (11), brothers (7), landlords (5), neighbors (5), relatives (4), suitors (3), brothers-in-law (2), cousins (2), former husbands (2), husbands/fathers (2), kiln owners (2), parents-in-law (2), parents (2) policemen (2) prayer leaders (2), religious zealots (2), rivals (2) sons-in-law (2), uncles (2), boyfriends (2), brother/brother-in-law (1), business rival (1), classmate (1), and many others. This clearly establishes the fact that the perpetrators are close relatives or well-known to the victims.

Heinous Crimes – Balochistan

Out of 34 locations in Balochistan, 9 exhibited heinous crimes. The highest number of cases occurred in Quetta, the capital of the province, followed by Boghra, Chaman, Dera Murad Jumali, Jaffarabad, Jhal Magsi, Kech, Mastung, and Pishin (table 06). Comparing the locations of heinous crimes with the locations of violence, the difference is 9 to 26.

Table 06: Fatalities from violence and heinous crimes in Balochistan – 2014
# Districts Number of heinous crimes Fatality-heinous Fatality-violence
1 Quetta 5 13 170
2 Boghra 2 4 0
3 Chaman 1 0 0
4 Dera Murad Jamali 1 2 3
5 Jaffarabad 1 1 7
6 Jhal Magsi 1 11 20
7 Kech 1 0 0
8 Mastung 1 0 0
9 Pishin 1 0 18
10 Awaran 0 0 20
11 Barkhan 0 0 15
12 Chagai (Taftan) 0 0 33
13 Dera Bugti (Sui) 0 0 79
14 Gwadar 0 0 0
15 Harnai 0 0 8
16 Kachi (Bolan) 0 0 35
17 Kalat 0 0 84
18 Kharan 0 0 58
19 Khuzdar 0 0 10
20 Killa Abdullah 0 0 2
21 Killa Saifullah 0 0 0
22 Kohlu 0 0 10
23 Lasbela 0 0 0
24 Lehri 0 0 7
25 Loralai 0 0 46
26 Musakhel 0 0 28
27 Nushki 0 0 6
28 Panjgur 0 0 37
29 Sherani 0 0 0
30 Sibi 0 0 31
31 Sohbatpur 0 0 0
32 Washuk 0 0 19
33 Zhob 0 0 3
34 Ziarat 0 0 3
Total 14 31 752
Note 1: The heinous crime data is from all of May-December 2014.
Note 2: The violence data is from all of 2014.

The nature of heinous crime in Balochistan included violence against women, honor killings, intolerance, infanticide, matricide, militancy, and tribal feud (table 07). The most noticeable point in these indicators is the high number of casualty against very small number of events of intolerance and tribal feud.

Table 07: Heinous crimes in Balochistan – May-December 2014
Nature of crime Number of events Fatalities Injured Total casualties
Violence against women 6 5 12 17
Honor killing 2 4 0 4
Intolerance 2 11 12 23
Infanticide 1 3 0 3
Matricide 1 2 0 2
Militancy 1 0 0 0
Tribal feud 1 6 5 11
Total 14 31 29 60

The victims of heinous crimes in Balochistan were family members  (11), men and children (6), daughter (3), stepmothers and sisters (3), daughters and paramours (2), teenage sister and her friend (2), wives (2), and unknown women (12 injured because of acid attacks). 25% of these crimes were committed by blood and close relatives while the remaining 75% were committed by distant acquaintances and unknown people.

Heinous Crimes – Sindh

The number of heinous crimes in Sindh were higher than Balochistan but the casualties were almost half of what was witnessed in Balochistan (table 06 and 08). Unlike Punjab and Balochistan, the capital city of Sindh, Karachi, was found to be the least affected of this crime in terms of number of events and the casualties (table 08).

Heinous crimes observed in Sindh include honor killings (7 events), brutality (5), child abuse (3), juvenile crime (3), violence against women (3), intolerance (1), and misuse of power (1).

Among all victims of these crimes in Sindh, minor children were the highest affected (4 dead), followed by brothers (3), fathers (2), sister-in-law and paramour (2), sister and paramour (2) unknown men (2), wife and paramour (2), unknown women (2), son (1), teenage boy (1), wife (1), and young man (1).

Three of the four minor children were just five years of age, and the age of fourth is unknown. The crimes included gunning down the victims (17 dead), axed to death (2), clashes (3), clubbed to death (1), dumped dead body of minor (1), raped and killed (1), strangulated (1), gang raped (4), acid attacks (3), and burnt alive (1). The reasons cited for these crimes were domestic issues, karo-kari (honor killing), love marriage, enmity, goat in the wrong field, illicit relations, and some others.

Table 08: Casualties from heinous crimes in Sindh – May-December 2014
# Districts Number of events Fatalities Injured
1 Sukkur 10 13 6
2 Karachi 9 8 4
3 Dadu 1 1 0
4 Shikarpur 1 1 0
5 Khairpur 1 0 0
6 Mirpurkhas 1 2 0
  Total 23 25 10

Of 25 districts in Sindh, only 6 experienced heinous crimes during the period of this report leaving 25 persons dead.  As compared to this the incidents of violence were observed in 16 districts of Sindh and the number of fatality was as high as 2,193. Sindh is the only province in the country where the male victims of heinous crimes are higher than female.

Table 09: Fatalities from violence and heinous crimes in Sindh – May-December 2014  
Districts Number of events Fatality-heinous Fatality-violence
Karachi 9 8 2029
Sukkur 10 13 67
Hyderabad 0 0 37
Kashmore (Kandhkot) 0 0 13
Khairpur 1 0 9
Larkana 0 0 7
Thatta (Dhabeji 0 0 6
Naushahro Feroze 0 0 5
Mirpurkhas 1 2 4
Nawabshah 0 0 4
Dadu 1 1 3
Shahdadpur 0 0 3
Umerkot 0 0 3
Shikarpur 1 1 1
Jacobabad 0 0 1
Jamshoro 0 0 1
Badin 0 0 0
Matiari 0 0 0
Mirpur Mathelo 0 0 0
Mithi 0 0 0
Qambar 0 0 0
Sanghar 0 0 0
Sujawal 0 0 0
Tando Allahyar 0 0 0
Tando Muhammad Khan 0 0 0
Total 23 25 2193

Heinous Crimes – KP

After Punjab, KP is another province where the number of incidents and casualties of heinous crimes are higher than the other provinces in the country. However, there is one thing common in Sindh and KP: the capital cities of both provinces are not as affected by heinous crimes as the rest of provinces are. Out of 77 casualties of heinous crimes in KP, Peshawar had only 3 casualties.

Table 10: Casualties from heinous crimes in KP – May-December 2014
# Districts Number of events Fatalities Injured Casualty
1 Hangu 2 14 3 17
2 Nowshera 5 11 3 14
3 Mansehra 10 4 7 11
4 Charsadda 3 6 0 6
5 Swat 4 4 2 6
6 Abbottabad 1 3 0 3
7 D.I. Khan 3 3 0 3
8 Kohat 2 3 0 3
9 Peshawar 4 2 1 3
10 Bannu 3 2 0 2
11 Takht Bhai 1 1 1 2
12 Batkhela 1 1 0 1
13 Battagram 1 0 1 1
14 Karak 1 1 0 1
15 Shabqadar 1 1 0 1
16 Swabi 1 1 0 1
17 Haripur 1 0 0 0
Total 44 57 18 75

What makes KP different from all other provinces is the nature of heinous crimes committed there.  Brutality and militancy are the two frequent sources the casualties of which were about 50% of the total casualties in the province while honor killing and violence against women together made up around 15% of the total casualties.

Table 11: Heinous crimes in KP – May-December 2014
Nature of crime Casualties
Brutality 22
Militancy 16
Honor killing 10
Patricide 7
Misuse of power 5
Intolerance 3
Juvenile crime 3
Male chauvinism 3
Matricide 2
Violence against women 2
Child abuse 1
Infanticide 1
Total 75

Among the victims of heinous crimes, the highest number of casualties was of teenage boys and minor children (15), followed by brothers, mothers, sisters, nephew, parents, wives, married couples, brothers-in-law, cousin brothers, daughters, fathers, and sons. KP is the only province in the country where blood relatives and close relatives were half of the total number of perpetrators and the remaining were militants, close acquaintances, political activists, religious persons, and security personnel. Nearly 30% of the victims were targeted because of their vulnerability (27) followed by rivalries, fits of rage, love marriages, domestic issues, opposition to marriage, organizing musical events, and family disputes, among others.

Unlike other provinces, minor children were less affected in the province. The majority of them were either teenagers (12+ years), or a few were minors in the age group of 9-12 years. Note that we haven’t included in this report the most heinous crime of the terrorist attack on Army Public School in Peshawar as it was already covered in our annual report on violence for the year 2014. Nearly 70% of the victims of heinous crimes in the province were males while females were around 30%.

The methods used for committing heinous crimes in KP were different from other provinces as well.  Nearly 60% of the victims were gunned down and in one case children of a village of Hangu were targeted by the militants using remote control bomb leaving six dead and three injured.  Rapes, gang-rapes, murders, and armed attacks were also the methods that were used in committing such crimes. As compared to 21 affected districts of violence, the heinous crimes were reported from 17 districts (table 12).

Table 12: Fatalities from violence and heinous crimes in KP – 2014
# Districts Number of heinous crime Fatality-heinous Fatality-violence
1 Peshawar 4 2 428
2 Hangu 2 14 76
3 Bannu 3 2 61
4 D.I. Khan 3 3 61
5 Kohat 2 3 57
6 Swat 4 4 54
7 Charsadda 3 6 35
8 Mardan 0 0 30
9 Nowshera 5 11 26
10 Dir 0 0 26
11 Swabi 1 1 20
12 Mansehra 10 4 17
13 Tank 0 0 15
14 Batkhela 1 1 9
15 Buner 0 0 7
16 Lakki Marwat 0 0 7
17 Alpuri (Shangla) 0 0 5
18 Abbottabad 1 3 4
19 Battagram 1 0 2
20 Karak 1 1 2
21 Chitral 0 0 2
22 Haripur 1 0 0
23 Shabqadar 1 1 0
24 Takht Bhai 1 1 0
25 Daggar 0 0 0
26 Dassu 0 0 0
27 Pattan 0 0 0
28 Timergara 0 0 0
29 Tor Ghar 0 0 0
Total 44 57 944
Note 1: The heinous crime data is from all of May-December 2014.
Note 2: The violence data is from all of 2014.

Heinous Crimes – AJK, Islamabad, FATA, and GB

AJK

One report of heinous crime from AJK appeared in the press during this period and it was committed against a 10 year old girl. The child was kidnapped and gang-raped.

Islamabad

The capital of the country with its high rate of literacy and lowest poverty rate was not safe from heinous crimes within its boundary. All in all, four cases of heinous crimes were reported from the capital.

Table 13: Heinous crimes in Islamabad – May-December 2014
Nature of crime Incidents Details
Violence against women 1 Rape and killed by step father
Child abuse 1 10 year old seminary student, raped and strangulated
Infanticide 1 Thrown on the floor by father
Misuse of power 1 Rowdiness of the son of CDA chief
Total 4  

FATA

The terror-ridden region of FATA has been in the headlines of the newspapers for acts of terrorism or counter terrorism. Since June 15, 2014, North Waziristan and Khyber Agencies have been the main area of military operations and it is often reported that the militants are on the run. Brief reports of heinous crimes do raise serious question about the law and order situation in the region. There were four cases of heinous crime and all of them were reported from Khyber Agency.

Table 14: Heinous crimes in FATA – May-December 2014
Nature of crime Incidents Details
Militancy 1 Two students, class 4 and 10, shot dead
1 One student, class 4, shot dead
1 Tribesman beheaded in public, Landikotal
Corporal Punishment 1 One woman lashed by members of LI
Total 4  

The beheading took place on November 1, 2014.

GB

In GB, one case of heinous crime took place on November 14, 2014. The victim was an eight year boy brutally murdered by his friends.

CONCLUSION

In summary, this report highlights the nature of heinous crimes committed throughout the country during May to December 2014. Punjab was the highest affected. Note that the data is only for eight months, and it is based on the reports that appeared in the local English newspaper like The News, Dawn, and the Express Tribune. For statistical analysis, in many cases, smaller number of samples can be enough to identify patterns.

Table 15: Provincial districts affected by heinous and violent crimes – May-December 2014
Province Number of districts affected by
Heinous crime Violent crime
Punjab 35 29
Balochistan 9 26
KP 17 21
Sindh 6 16
Note 1: The heinous crime data is from all of May-December 2014.
Note 2: The violence data is from all of 2014.

Nationally, four types of heinous crimes dominate. These include violence against women, honor killings, various forms of brutality, and violence stemming from intolerance.  On the provincial level, the primary forms of heinous crimes are as follows:

Table 16: Primary forms of heinous crimes by province – May-December 2014
Province Primary forms of heinous crime
Punjab Violence against women, honor killings, brutality, and misuse of power
Balochistan Intolerance, violence against women, tribal feuds, and honor killings
Sindh Honor killings, violence against women, brutality, and child abuse
KP Brutality, honor killings, male chauvinism, militancy

The variations in the nature of crimes at different provinces are indicative of the social behavior and attitudes in that particular location. Two crimes, violence against women and honor killings, are common in all provinces except KP. There were some cases of honor killing in KP but no incident of violence against women. However, militancy is one of the primary sources of heinous crime in the KP, a pattern noticeable in the Khyber Agency of FATA as well.

In Punjab and Balochistan, a large number of crimes are committed against women in terms of number of events. When we look at the number of casualties of heinous crimes, the male/female percentage is different. Female victims appear to be the highest in Punjab.

Table 17: Victims of heinous crimes by gender – May-December 2014
Province Male Female
Punjab 37 92
Balochistan 3 8
KP 15 21
Sindh 12 5

Punjab also has the highest number of minors and infant children as victims of heinous crimes. All provinces except Balochistan experienced heinous crimes committed against children.

Table 18: Victims of heinous crimes against children – May-December 2014
Province Number of incidents
Punjab 27
Balochistan 5
KP 4
Sindh 2
FATA 2
AJK 1
GB 1
Total 42

The majority of the perpetrators of heinous crimes were those who had some sort of relation or acquaintance with the victims. However, in case of Punjab and KP, some other actors were also involved. Further research is needed to analyze the social patterns that encourage generally non-criminal people to indulge in criminal acts.

Table 19: Perpetrators’ relations victims of heinous crimes – May-December 2014
Perpetrators’ relation with victims Casualties
Punjab Balochistan Sindh KP
Blood relations 37 12 6 22
Close acquaintance 28 0 2 3
Close relatives 55 2 15 14
Distant acquaintance 32 34 3 0
Militants 0 0 0 14
Political activists 5 0 0 3
Religious persons 5 0 0 2
Security Personnel 2 0 0 2
Unknown 41 12 9 15
Total 205 60 35 75

The academia, researchers, and the government need to look into these issues closely to understand real causes behind them and devise policies that can minimize occurrences of such crimes in the society.

___________________________________________________________________________________

[1] Close relatives = cousin, uncle, aunt, husband, wife

[2] Blood relations = father, mother, son, daughter, sister, brother

[3] Electronic version available on the CRSS website (https://crss.pk///story/annual-security-report-2014/), and hard copies available in our Islamabad head office free of cost.

 

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