women rights Archives - Dissent Today https://dissenttoday.net/tag/women-rights/ Speaking Truth to Power Sun, 16 Aug 2026 03:52:13 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Pakistan’s Top Court Upholds Death Sentence in Murder of Woman Killed For Obtaining Divorce https://dissenttoday.net/news/pakistans-top-court-upholds-death-sentence-in-murder-of-woman-killed-for-obtaining-divorce/ https://dissenttoday.net/news/pakistans-top-court-upholds-death-sentence-in-murder-of-woman-killed-for-obtaining-divorce/#respond Sat, 15 Aug 2026 21:49:54 +0000 https://dissenttoday.net/?p=9140 ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s highest court on Saturday rejected an appeal by a man convicted of murdering his former wife just two days after she secured a judicial divorce, declaring that women who exercise their legal rights must not face violence with impunity. In a strongly worded judgment, a three-judge bench led by Justice Muhammad Hashim […]

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]]> ISLAMABAD – Pakistan’s highest court on Saturday rejected an appeal by a man convicted of murdering his former wife just two days after she secured a judicial divorce, declaring that women who exercise their legal rights must not face violence with impunity.
In a strongly worded judgment, a three-judge bench led by Justice Muhammad Hashim Khan Kakar ruled that the killing struck at the heart of constitutional protections for life, dignity, and equality. The court found no grounds to overturn the concurrent convictions or the death sentence handed down to Wasim Abbas.
The case centered on the October 11, 2020, shooting of Shehnaz Bibi in Lahore. According to the prosecution, Abbas, armed with a pistol and accompanied by two unidentified men, forced his way into the home of Irshad Begum around 3 p.m. He entered a room where Shehnaz Bibi and another woman were resting, taunted her over her successful demand for divorce, and fired multiple shots. She suffered six gunshot wounds to her abdomen, hand, thighs, and back; an accomplice fired an additional shot below her right knee. Shehnaz Bibi died at the scene.
An ex parte divorce decree in her favor had been issued only 48 hours earlier, on October 9, 2020. The Supreme Court noted that the motive was deep resentment over her lawful exercise of rights under Pakistan’s Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act of 1939 and the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance of 1961.
Justice Kakar, writing for the bench that also included Justices Salahuddin Panhwar and Ishtiaq Ibrahim, stressed the court’s constitutional duty under Articles 9, 14, and 25 to safeguard the life, dignity, and equal treatment of all citizens, including women.
Citing a 2019 precedent, the judgment affirmed that a woman seeking legal dissolution of marriage through the courts is exercising a fundamental right. Violence against her for doing so, the court said, must be met with the full force of the law.
The trial court had convicted Abbas of murder under Section 302(b) of the Pakistan Penal Code and sentenced him to deatH, along with compensation of 500,000 rupees to the legal heirs. He also received a concurrent 10-year rigorous imprisonment term and fine for house trespass. The Lahore High Court upheld the verdict in June 2025.The Supreme Court described the eyewitness testimony of Irshad Begum and Naeem Bibi, both residents of the house, as reliable and confidence-inspiring.
Rejecting any call for leniency, the bench characterized the crime as exceptionally brutal, calculated, premeditated, and cold-blooded, carried out inside the victim’s family home in ruthless defiance of the law.
While Pakistan’s law guarantees women the right to seek judicial dissolution of marriage, women who pursue divorce frequently encounter deep social stigma, family pressure, and practical barriers that make this legal right difficult to exercise in practice.

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]]> https://dissenttoday.net/news/pakistans-top-court-upholds-death-sentence-in-murder-of-woman-killed-for-obtaining-divorce/feed/ 0 Multan Admin Refuses NOC To Aurat March, ‘Misbehaves’ With Rally Organisers https://dissenttoday.net/news/multan-admin-refuses-noc-to-aurat-march-misbehaves-with-rally-organisers/ https://dissenttoday.net/news/multan-admin-refuses-noc-to-aurat-march-misbehaves-with-rally-organisers/#respond Mon, 06 Mar 2023 09:03:01 +0000 https://dissenttoday.net/?p=2094 Despite Punjab Interim Information Minister Amir Mir’s assurance that the government will not hinder the Aurat March rallies in the province, the District Commissioner Multan has denied the request of the Aurat March organising committee to issue a No Objection Certificate for holding a rally at Nawan Shehr Chowk, Multan. According to the organising committee […]

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]]> Despite Punjab Interim Information Minister Amir Mir’s assurance that the government will not hinder the Aurat March rallies in the province, the District Commissioner Multan has denied the request of the Aurat March organising committee to issue a No Objection Certificate for holding a rally at Nawan Shehr Chowk, Multan.

According to the organising committee of the Aurat March Multan, the city administration also misbehaved with the Aurat March organisers.

The Aurat March is held annually to observe International Women’s Day across several cities in Pakistan, including Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, Quetta, and Multan among others.

The basic demands behind the march are equal opportunities for everyone, including transgenders and women; raising awareness regarding gender-based violence, and calling on authorities to make laws in this regard. The demands also include risks related to climate change and the exploitation of the poor that comes with it among many other issues.

However, the organisers of the March face resistance from the government and regressive elements in society every year.

The Aurat March Multan’s organisers condemned the move, deeming it an attack on their right to peaceful protest. They also vowed to find a way to “raise their voices for gender equality, climate justice, and women and Trans Rights”.

The Aurat March organisers also said that they were not welcomed at the DC’s Office as “women and trans are ridiculed for being outspoken about their rights”.


The Lahore administration also denied permission for the rally in the city, citing “controversial” placards and the likelihood of clashes with members of Jamaat-i-Islami’s ‘Haya March’ as grounds for the rejection.
Aurat March organising committee has challenged the denial of permission in the Lahore High Court.

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