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CULTURE
Why Extramarital Affairs Are More Life-Threatening Than War in Some Regions of Pakistan
In a culture where honor is everything, forbidden affairs lead to deadly consequences as a symbol of pride
It’s 5 a.m., and I’m lying in bed, still sleepy. As soon as I open my eyes, my wife says, “The schoolmaster and a woman were shot.”
“What? Are they dead?” I ask, feeling my heart drop. Her words still echo in my skull—they were brutally killed.
The woman’s husband, who works in Saudi Arabia to support his family, hadn’t seen her for four years. And that’s where extramarital affairs begin—when spouses are separated by thousands of kilometers for too long.
And this is just one of many cases where the adulterous couple becomes a victim of gunfire.
Here extramarital affairs are more dangerous than war.
In Pashtoon communities, nestled in the northern regions of Pakistan, cheating— or even sometimes love — can be a death sentence. These areas are governed by an ancient code of honor that overtakes both Islamic law and state law. Here, honor isn’t just a matter of pride. It’s a matter of life and death.
