The killing of Khalida Chandio, a 20-year-old woman from Sindh, Pakistan's southern province, has drawn renewed attention to a deeply entrenched pattern of gender-based violence in the country, according to a report by The Guardian. The case, which was filmed and circulated widely on social media, is one of at least 470 such killings recorded across Pakistan in 2025, according to figures cited by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).

The Case of Khalida Chandio

Khalida was shot dead in her village in Sindh after being declared kari — a Sindhi term used to accuse women of illicit relationships, frequently invoked to justify so-called 'honour' killings. According to investigators, the fatal shooting was carried out by her grandfather and maternal uncle on the orders of a tribal elder. Three suspects have been taken into custody, with one more still at large; the case is scheduled to go to trial.

Her mother, Nabul, recounted how Khalida was taken from their home at night and killed just a few hundred metres away. 'Her screams still echo in my ears. We couldn't save her,' Nabul was quoted as saying. Her father, Mohammad Ramzan, said: 'If they believed my daughter had done something wrong, they should have handed her over to the police. She would still be alive today. She could have been with us, or living in a shelter home.'

Scale of the Crisis in Sindh and Beyond

According to the HRCP and the women's rights organisation Sindh Suhai Sath, at least 112 women fell victim to 'honour' killings in Sindh alone between 1 January and 20 June 2025. Police figures cited by HRCP recorded at least 126 such killings in Sindh across the full year of 2025, out of 470 nationally. Rights groups warn that the actual toll is likely higher, particularly in remote districts where deaths may be misclassified as suicides or accidents or go unreported altogether.

Patriarchy as the Root Cause

Asad Raza, Deputy Inspector General of Police and a former district police chief in Ghotki, Kashmore, and Jacobabad in Sindh, told The Guardian that 'honour' killings in Pakistan are driven by deeply entrenched patriarchal power structures in which women are often treated as the 'property of male relatives.' He noted that the kari label continues to be weaponised to settle disputes over land, inheritance, or tribal rivalries — not as a genuine moral judgement.

'A woman may be declared kari not because of any evidence, but because it provides a pretext to kill her and seize property or extract compensation,' Raza was quoted as saying. He further highlighted how the same patriarchal attitudes pervade criminal investigations: 'The victim is a woman, the accused is usually a man, those making the accusation are men, community elders deciding the dispute are men, and often the investigating officer is also a man raised within the same social mindset.'

Why Accountability Remains Elusive

This comes amid longstanding concerns from human rights organisations that Pakistan's legal and law enforcement systems are structurally ill-equipped to address 'honour' killings. The systemic male dominance at every stage — from accusation to investigation — means cases are frequently buried, misclassified, or resolved through informal tribal mechanisms that prioritise family reputation over justice. Notably, Khalida's case drew rare public scrutiny only because the killing was filmed and shared on social media, raising questions about how many similar cases go entirely unnoticed.