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Hira Anwar was like most different youngsters rising up in New York. She was candy, she used social media, she went to the mall, she messed round with pals – however solely outdoors of sophistication.
However, the standard 14-year-old American garnered worldwide headlines for all of the incorrect causes. She went with kin to Pakistan on what she thought was a trip. There, her father, Anwar ul-Haq, and uncle plotted and executed her in the midst of a avenue in a tiny city, native police mentioned.
They known as it an ‘honor killing.’
Her household was shamed by her TikTook and way of life, her dad claimed. One of a typical American child.
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New York teen Hira Anwar was murdered in Pakistan by her father and uncle, police mentioned (Instagram)
Hira’s dying has despatched shockwaves by the varsity she attended in Yonkers, New York, and throughout the globe. A spokesperson for the U.S. embassy in Pakistan instructed The Independent mentioned it was “deeply saddened” by Hira’s homicide and it “stands ready” to help authorities within the investigation.
“Our condolences go out to the victim’s family and loved ones. We are providing all appropriate consular assistance,” the assertion mentioned.
Hira’s household has reportedly lived within the U.S. for 25 years and her father labored as an Uber driver, in response to the New York Times. Hira was born and raised Yonkers and her father holds U.S. citizenship, in response to police official Babar Baloch in Pakistan. He has two different daughters, in response to the Times.
Her U.S. pals described her as a typical child whose dad would drop her off to satisfy up together with her classmates.
A buddy from School 16 described Hira as “a typical” teenager. “She liked being with her friends at recess, she would just be with friends enjoying herself,” the scholar instructed The Independent through a mum or dad. “It didn’t matter where it was, she just liked being outside…spending time with her friends. The mall, movies…”
The scholar’s mum or dad, who The Independent agreed to not identify, mentioned that her little one went to the mall with Hira and one other buddy within the weeks earlier than she was taken to Pakistan.
“She told a few kids she was going to Pakistan for a vacation,” the mother mentioned, including that she was in disbelief about what occurred to Hira.
“She was a typical 14-year-old girl,” she added. “Didn’t dress provocatively, wore baggy clothes. Hardly wore any makeup. She was a sweet kid.”
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Hira was killed within the southwestern metropolis of Quetta on the finish of January, police mentioned. Her father mentioned the teenager’s way of life and her social media use led to the ‘honor killing’ (Google)
Police in Pakistan mentioned Anwar instructed them that Hira started creating “objectionable” content material on TikTook when she lived within the U.S. and continued to share movies whereas she was within the Asian nation.
But Hira’s pals are mentioned to be bewildered by the claims about her TikTook exercise.
“They don’t know anything about a TikTok,” the mother mentioned of her little one and one other classmate who was reportedly near Hira. “She never mentioned anything about having a TikTok and they never really even asked to be honest with you,” the mother mentioned, including that if Hira posted as a lot as her father claimed she did then they might be following her account.
A TikTook account classmates say belonged to Hira, seen by The Independent, solely has three followers and no posts.
There is extra exercise on an Instagram account believed to be Hira’s. She shared photos and video on her profile on the Wagar Border within the north of India and Pakistan on January 20, in response to her social media profile reviewed by The Independent. Hira is just not seen within the posts on the latest journey to Pakistan and she or he shared photos of the surroundings and outlets she visited.
The killing, and the so-called purpose behind it, have shocked her classmates and their mother and father within the U.S.
“You raise her in New York for 14 years of her life and you’re surprised at how she’s become accustomed to American culture and norms,” the mother mentioned in disbelief, “and then you just decide to take her back to the country and kill her for that…”
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Hira shared photographs and video from the India-Pakistan Wagah border (pictured right here) every week earlier than she was killed. She believed she was occurring trip with household earlier than her homicide (AFP/Getty)
Hira’s faculty has reached out to its neighborhood to supply ideas about her dying. A letter from School 16’s principal Dr. Vanessa Vasquez, seen by The Independent, was shared with mother and father on February 3.
It warned mother and father that their youngsters could come throughout social media and information stories referring to Hira’s dying. “This is a heartbreaking loss for our school community, and our hearts are with the student’s family and friends during this difficult time,” Vasquez mentioned within the letter.
The Independent has contacted Yonkers Public Schools for remark
Classmates held a small memorial ceremony for Hira on the faculty after academics instructed them of her passing. They paid tribute to “how strong-willed of a person she was” and the way she “didn’t let anything bother her, she just did her own thing.”
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The killing of the teenager in Pakistan has drawn worldwide headlines and even noticed U.S. officers remark about her homicide (AFP/Getty)
The teenager’s dying has occasion raised alarms for non-profits teams. The U.S. born native being gunned down by her solely household has left them shocked. But, they are saying Hira is just not the one case.
“Hira did not die because of her TikTok posts,” Kavita Mehra, govt director of Sakhi for South Asian Survivors, a New York-based nonprofit, instructed The Independent. “To frame her murder as a simple clash between modernity and tradition does a disservice to her life and the broader systemic issues at play. This violence is not about culture or religion—it is about power and control over gendered bodies. The policing of women and girls exists worldwide, and the same systems that enable so-called ‘honor-based’ violence abroad are mirrored in domestic violence, reproductive control, and state-sanctioned harm here in the U.S.”
According to the group, 48 p.c of South Asians within the U.S. expertise gender-based violence at the very least as soon as of their lifetime, a charge larger than the nationwide common.
“Hira was a teenager who deserved a future,” Mehra continued. “She should have been able to grow up free from fear, to define her own identity, and to move through the world with safety and dignity. The injustice of her death is compounded by a culture of silence, where abuse is too often hidden behind closed doors or dismissed as a ‘family matter.’ But let us be clear: there is no honor in violence, only loss.”
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