Murdered by My Father

Murdered by My Father written by Vinay Patel is a heartbreaking tale of Salma torn between choosing family tradition or her own individual freedom. You hope that they will be some kind of happy resolution but the title kind of gives the game away.

Salma's father Shahzad (Adeel Akhtar) is a hard working widower raising two children. His teenage daughter Salma (Kiran Sonia Sawar) has been promised to Haroon, once she finishes her education which would be good business sense for the family but Salma had fallen in love with Imi who she spends a lot of time with even skipping college.

Of course once Haroon discovers that Salma has a boyfriend he and his father humiliate Shazad, who feels dishonoured and takes it out on his daughter. He locks her up but she escapes but when she returns the next day it ends in tragedy.

Not only that but as we see in the beginning of the drama the bloodied body of Shazad, who after killing Salma stabs himself and throws himself off the apartment block leaving his young son alone as an orphan. It is a double tragedy.

Kiran Sonia Sawar gives a fine performance as a young teenage girl entering into womanhood, in love with a teenage boy and trying to keep her father happy.

Shazad is really not written as a monster, he is a hard working family man who feels he is doing his best for his daughter. His actions are of someone who has just snapped and later realised the consequences of his actions.

The true monsters are Haroon and his father. They are the outsiders, who pressurise Shazad for his young daughter and then point the finger of judgment.

Once these hypocritical behavioural witch hunters are outed, shamed and shunned can the matter of honour killings be tackled.