Saba Farhoudnia

No Signal

SMPTE color bars are a television test pattern used where the NTSC video standard is utilized. Its components are a known standard, and created by test pattern generators. It is also used for setting a television monitor or receiver to reproduce NTSC chrominance and luminance information correctly.

Color bars often are broadcast on television when programming is censored or limited.

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMPTE_color_bars

Panels numbered from right to left:

1. Ahmet Yildiz (Turkey)

For 26-year-old Ahmet Yildiz, the choice to live openly as a gay man proved deadly. Prosecutors say his own father hunted him down, traveling more than 600 miles from his hometown to shoot his son in an old neighborhood of Istanbul. Mr. Yildiz was killed in 2008, the victim of what sociologists say is the first gay honor killing in Turkey to surface publicly. He was shot five times as he left his apartment to buy ice cream. A witness said dozens of neighbors watched the killing from their windows, but refused to come forward. His body remained unclaimed by his family, a grievous fate under Muslim custom.

Mr. Yildiz, a straight-A physics student who had hoped to become a teacher, was tutoring fellow students so he could make extra money to live independently. But by coming out as gay in a patriarchal tribal family, he had become the ultimate affront to both religious and filial honor, even with parents who adored him.

Until recently, so-called honor killings have been largely confined to women, who face being killed by male relatives for perceived grievances ranging from consensual sex outside of marriage to stealing a glance at a boy. A recent government survey estimated that one person dies every week in Istanbul as a result of honor killings, while the United Nations estimates the practice globally claims as many as 5,000 lives a year. In Turkey, relatives convicted in such killings are subject to life sentences.

See: https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/world/europe/26turkey.html

2.Pinky Saini (India)

Cases of honor killing continue to surge in Rajasthan. A father strangled his daughter to death over her ‘live-in relationship’ with a Dalit lover in Dausa district in March 2021. After killing the daughter, the father confessed to his crime and surrendered in the police station.

According to the Dausa police, the deceased Pinky Saini lived with her family in Ramkund area. She was in love with a Dalit boy named Roshan Mahawar. Pinky's father, Shankar Lal Saini, was against her marrying Roshan and he got her forcibly married on February 16. After marriage, Pinky escaped from her home on February 21 with Roshan, and she filed a petition in the Rajasthan High Court demanding protection. The Rajasthan High Court directed the police to provide security to Pinky Saini and her lover Roshan Mahawar. Pinky's family kidnapped her from Roshan's home.

To prevent such atrocities, the Rajasthan Assembly passed a bill in August 2020 to make the law more stringent on ‘honor killings.’ The bill included a provision of death penalty or life imprisonment for killings in the name of 'family honour'. CM Ashok Gehlot targeted the Central Government for not clearing the bills and said "we passed bills on honor killing and mob lynching nearly six months ago, but these bills are yet to get clearance simply because the Government of India is not interested."

See: https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2021/mar/04/rajasthan-man-strangles-daughter-to-death-over-her-live-in-relationship-with-dalit-lover-2272269.html

3.Kamran Larik (Pakistan)

A young man died while his wife survived after they were forced to consume poison in Hingorja area of Khairpur district.

The couple's parents were arrested by Khairpur police and are under police custody following court remand in the suspected 'honor killing' case. Kamran Larik had a court marriage with Tahira Shah in August 2016. The parents of the bride and the groom tricked the two, by taking an oath on the Holy Quran, that they had accepted the marriage and brought them to a retired judge's house in Khairpur where they were forced to consume pesticide, Tahira told police. The couple was taken to Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical University (SMBBMU) Hospital, where Kamran died.

Police have arrested five persons including the bride's father, Ahsan Shah and her uncles, Tahseen Shah and Murad Shah. The groom's father, Ghulam Rasool, and his brother, Imran, are also under arrest.

Tahira's uncle, who serves in Anti Corruption Establishment (ACE), is termed as the prime suspect in the case. He was arrested from the place of offence – the residence where they were forced to drink poison – but he was let off by police.

Khairpur SSP revealed the bride's condition to be perfect and said that she would be presented in court Monday to record her statement under Section 164 of PPC. She is in the ICU under police protection. “Following Tahira’s initial statement we have arrested ASI Shamshad Shah from Shahdadpur on Saturday where he was attending a police course”, said the SSP.

Tahira Shah subsequently demanded action against her parents, who killed her husband Kamran Larik. Her parents did not accept free will marriage, and called them on pretext of agreement to their marriage. Tahira alleged her parents compelled them at gunpoint to drink poison, after which they were unconscious and admitted to hospital, where her husband died. She said she was told of his death after 14 days by police. With her late husband’s brother at a news conference, she demanded protection and punishment for her parents. She alleged her father Ahsan Shah, uncles Shamshad Shah, Tehsin Shah & Murad Shah were “real culprits who had administered her and Kamran Larik poison at gunpoint. Marrying on own will was not a horrendous crime to be punished with death.” She appealed to higher authorities to punish the killers so that those marrying on their own could be saved.

See: https://www.dawn.com/news/1278833/ 

https://dailytimes.com.pk/59797/tahira-shah-demands-action-against-husbands-killers/

and also: https://www.islamawareness.net/HonourKilling/outside.html

4.  Mia Maro (USA)

Mohammed Almaru was charged with murdering his 17-year-old daughter, Mia Maro, in May 2022, just weeks before prom and graduation. She had also been caring for her mother since the age of 14, and was planning to study to be a dental hygienist and stay close to home in a Chicago suburb, to continue taking care of her mom. There was apparently an argument, and her father beat her to death, her aunt finding her body when she came to check on her. The father subsequently attempted suicide and was not cooperating, in hospital.

See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O0t7QqhNiE 

https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/mia-maro-murder-tinley-park-father-mohammed-almaru-charged/

5.Kevin Joseph (India)

So-called honor killing in Catholic family shocks Indian state

The murder of a socially poor Dalit Catholic man who had married a woman belonging to an upper-caste Syrian Christian family has fueled protests across India's southern state of Kerala. Kevin Joseph, 26, a member of Vijayapuram Diocese, was murdered in a so-called honor killing in May 2018, five days after he married 20-year-old Neenu Chacko of an affluent Christian family in Kollam district against the wishes of some members of her family.

The man was dragged out of his house in Kottayam district with his cousin and taken away by a gang allegedly hired by the girl's family, police said. His body was later found in a stream in Thenmala in Kollam district. His cousin was released. The victim's father and wife told local media they approached police soon after the kidnapping, but that officers refused to respond, saying they were busy arranging security for a visit by Pinaryi Vijayan, chief minister of Kerala.

Neenu named her brother Shanu Chacko and 11 people as being responsible for the crime. Most gang members belong to the Democratic Youth Federation of India, a youth wing associated with Kerala's ruling communist alliance. Reports circulated that the government planned to suspend local police officers including the Kottayam district police chief.

The murder has opened debate in Kerala about discrimination against Christians of lower-caste origin by upper-caste Christians, who claim to be descendants of the priestly caste of Hindu Brahmins converted by St. Thomas the Apostle in A.D. 52.

Widespread protests have been held recently by Dalit Christians in Kerala against the discrimination they face from upper-caste Christians, commonly known as Syrian Christians because of their ancient link with the Syrian Church and its liturgy.

A Syrian Christian bishop recently rattled the community by saying that discrimination against Dalit Christians was due to the "myth" that their forefathers were upper-caste Brahmins.

Dalits formed just 2.6 percent of the 6.14 million Christians in Kerala in 2011, according to a study by the Center for Development Studies. Catholics dominated the Christian population with 3.7 million. Syrian Christians, now split into seven churches, are the majority and a politically influential group in the state.

Women's activist and lawyer T.B. Mini told ucanews.com that honor killings should be seen as the result of a resurgence of dormant caste feelings in Kerala society.

"Caste feelings have aggravated in Kerala after left-wing parties, which worked as a bulwark against untouchability and caste discrimination, started pursuing power politics," Mini said.

Recalling that communist parties were at the forefront of fighting caste discrimination and attracting lower castes to the party, she said that "if the current trend goes unchecked, peace will be threatened" in Kerala.

See: https://www.ncronline.org/news/so-called-honor-killing-catholic-family-shocks-indian-state 

6.Aneta and Nikoleta Zdun (UK)

Jealous father guilty of murdering wife and daughter in Salisbury (UK)

Marcin Zdun wrongly suspected Aneta, 40, and Nikoleta, 18, were having an affair with a work colleague.

A supermarket worker was been found guilty of murdering his wife and teenage daughter after he slit their throats in a jealous rage because he was losing his “controlling” grip on the family. Marcin Zdun killed 40-year-old Aneta and 18-year-old Nikoleta at the family home in Salisbury, Wiltshire (UK), in December 2020, wrongly suspecting they were both having an affair with a supermarket colleague.

Jurors heard the 40-year-old believed both his wife and daughter, a student, were having an affair with a man at the Tesco supermarket where he worked.

He had become increasingly angry and violent towards his wife, a care worker, because she was not cleaning the house or making meals for the family as he demanded.

Zdun would confiscate her car keys and even disconnect the vehicle’s battery so she could not drive it, even to visit her clients. He also fell out with his daughter after she disobeyed him by getting piercings and tattoos, having turned to her mother for permission instead.

The prosecution said his family had become terrified of him in the days leading up to the fatal attack and his wife had sent a message to her mother saying: “I don’t want him to kill us, he’s a psycho.”

Giving evidence in court, Zdun denied “bullying” his wife but admitted she had asked him to leave the family home after he had attacked her in the kitchen. Zdun moved out but armed himself with the knife and went back to kill his wife and daughter.

Horrified neighbors told the court how Zdun repeatedly plunged the blade into the defenseless pair in their garden, with Aneta desperately trying to save Nikoleta by putting her own body in the way of the blows.

David Powell said: “There was no humanity in his face whatsoever, just anger – pure anger. I don’t know how you can do that to another human being. His sole purpose was to kill them.”

Nicholas Haggan QC, prosecuting, suggested to the jury Zdun felt he had lost “his controlling influence over Aneta and Nikoleta” and this “so angered” him that he decided to kill them.

See: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/dec/17/jealous-father-guilty-murdering-wife-daughter-salisbury-marcin-zdun 

7.Henriette Kara (Israel)

Israeli Christian man allegedly killed daughter over Muslim boyfriend

Central District state prosecutors filed an indictment against Sami Kara, 58, for allegedly killing his teenage daughter Henriette Kara because she was in a relationship with a Muslim man.

In June 2017, Henriette, 17, was found stabbed to death in her family’s home in the central town of Ramle a day after she graduated from high school.

The killing sparked a wave of outrage from Israeli-Arab MKs and community leaders accusing the police of failing to properly protect the teenager after she had previously complained of being attacked by her father.

According to the indictment, Henriette, an Israeli-Arab Christian, was in a relationship with a Muslim man for over a year, arousing “vehement opposition” from her parents, which was expressed in violence against her and threats forcing her to flee her home in May.

In one incident in early June, Kara allegedly beat Henriette and threatened her, stating, “I would spend my whole life in jail. I don’t care.”

Then on June 12, Henriette called a family member and told that person she had deposited money in a prison canteen for her boyfriend – who was jailed at the time on charges unrelated to the indictment – and said that after her boyfriend leaves prison she would convert to Islam. The relative then told the defendant of Henriette’s actions and a short time later he allegedly committed the murder. According to the indictment, Henriette’s actions in the defendant’s view “damaged the honor of the family and made [Sami Kara] feel ashamed.”

“The defendant decided to cause the death of the deceased and in order to realize his goal he was equipped with a knife. The defendant stabbed the deceased three times, causing her death on the spot,” the indictment said.

The murder of the Christian girl sent shock waves through Ramle, with Kara’s classmates convinced she was killed by her father for being romantically involved with the young Muslim man. Mixing between Christian and Muslims in Ramle and Lod is not uncommon, however, such relationships leading to murder are not common, residents said.

See: https://m.jpost.com/israel-news/israeli-christian-father-allegedly-killed-daughter-over-muslim-boyfriend-499853/amp