In certain cultures women are denied the right to choose their life partners and any defiance on their part can caused them to be murdered by their own family. One of the most horrendous cases of Honor Killing took place on December 7, 2012 when 22 year-old Nilofar Bibi was publicly beheaded by her own brother in Kolkata, India.

Bibi was only fourteen years old when she left home in an arranged marriage. She alleged that she was tortured by her in-laws and returned to her parent but disappeared days later. Her brother Mehtab Alam 29 at the time found his sister living with an old boyfriend. He stormed into the house and dragged Bibi into the street in broad daylight.

On that fateful day passersby watched in horror as he cut off his sister’s head saying that she had sinned and had to be punished. He left his sister’s body lying in a pool of blood on the road and calmly walked to the police station with her head in his hand to surrender himself. At the station he placed his sister’s head and the butcher knife he had used to decapitate her on the table in front of the police officer. It was later reported that the family expressed support for Alam saying they were proud he upheld the family honor.

Years later nothing has changed and women continue to be murdered in the name of family honor.