On the quiet night of July 16, 2025, a young woman’s life was tragically cut short in a way that left her family broken and her community in shock. Alia Bibi, a woman in her mid-twenties, was shot dead in the courtyard of her home in Shamoni Khattak, Lakki Marwat, under the chilling shadows of an unforgiving society. Her mother, Marwareeda Bibi, was the first to find her daughter, lying lifeless after hearing the deafening sound of gunshots that shattered the stillness of the night.
Alia had been sleeping outside in the courtyard, as was her usual routine. Her mother, tucked away in an adjacent room, was jolted awake at around 2 AM by the sound of gunfire. Rushing outside, she found her daughter critically wounded. By the time Marwareeda reached her, Alia had already succumbed to her injuries. Her heart, once full of hopes and dreams for her daughter, was now shattered by an irreversible tragedy.
Amid the chaos, Marwareeda heard the faint sound of a motorcycle speeding away, its engine fading into the distance, but could only offer a helpless description of the scene. The pain of losing a child is indescribable, yet it is compounded by the stark reality of having to face a senseless loss that is rooted in societal norms that value control over individual freedom. The investigation has since pointed to a painful and disturbing motive: Alia’s cousin may have been the one to pull the trigger.
The officer in charge of the case, Ameer Ullah, revealed that Alia’s cousin had been unhappy with her “open-mindedness,” a characteristic that perhaps clashed with the rigid, suffocating expectations of her family. Alia, who had already suffered the heartbreak of two failed marriages, was said to have been in a romantic relationship that her family disapproved of. Her mother, unaware of this, had allegedly asked her brother-in-law’s son to intervene, to convince Alia to abandon what they saw as a disgrace to the family’s honor. In the end, it was this very intervention that led to Alia’s untimely death at the hands of a relative, a death that has become yet another tragic chapter in the long history of “honor killings” in Pakistan.
Alia’s life was filled with promise, a young woman with her dreams and desires, seeking love and connection despite the pressures and constraints placed on her by tradition. Yet, as so often happens in Pakistan, her pursuit of personal happiness was deemed a crime, and her murder was tragically branded as an act to preserve “family honor.”
This is not an isolated incident. According to a recent report by the Sustainable Social Development Organization (SSDO), honor killings have become alarmingly commonplace in Pakistan. In 2024, the SSDO reported 547 cases of honor-based killings, with 134 occurring in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa alone. The country also saw 32,617 cases of gender-based violence, a staggering figure that highlights the systemic nature of violence against women.
Alia Bibi’s death is a stark reminder of the deep-rooted misogyny that persists in societies where women are still treated as property rather than individuals with rights to their autonomy and freedom. The horrific violence she endured is not just an isolated tragedy, but a manifestation of an ongoing war on women’s rights, one where their lives and dignity are stripped away under the guise of preserving cultural or familial honor.
As the investigation into Alia’s murder continues, the question that lingers is not just about catching her killer, but about challenging a societal mindset that allows for such acts of brutality to be justified. Alia’s life should have mattered more, and her death should be a wake-up call for those who continue to condone such violence in the name of honor.
May Alia Bibi’s story serve as a painful but necessary reminder of the fight that still lies ahead for women’s rights in Pakistan and around the world. Let us not allow her tragic fate to be forgotten, but use it as fuel to break the chains of silence and fight for a future where every woman can live and love without fear.