Another suspected case of honor killing has been reported in Pakistan. A 21-year-old woman has been allegedly murdered by her brother for pursuing dancing and modeling as a career in Punjab province.

Sidra, a native of Renala Khurd Okara, 130 km from provincial capital Lahore, was modeling for a local clothing brand and danced in theatres of Faisalabad city against the wishes of her family, according to police.

Sidra’s parents forced her to quit her profession, terming it “against family tradition,” but she insisted on continuing.

Police said Sidra had come home from Faisalabad to celebrate Eid with her family last week.

On Thursday, her parents and brother Hamza had an argument with her over the issue of decency in her profession and beat her for insisting on sticking with dancing.

On Thursday, her parents and brother Hamza had an argument with her over the issue of decency in her profession and beat her for insisting on sticking with dancing.

Police officer Fraz Hamid said Hamza got infuriated at Sidra when he saw her dance performance on his mobile phone forwarded to him by a relative. He said Hamza told police that he shot his sister and died in a fit of rage.

In February this year, a 19-year-old female dancer Ayesha was shot dead in Faisalabad by her ex-husband.

Cases of honor killing are frighteningly regular in Pakistan, especially in areas close to the tribal regions in the north and west.

According to a Supreme Court judgment in 2020, Pakistan has one of the world’s highest per capita honor killings.

However, by using words like ‘honor,’ the Pakistan society not only downplays the atrocity of the crime but legitimizes it with the belief that ‘bad character,’ particularly pertaining to a woman, needs to be punished as it threatens their community and tarnishes the community’s image at large.