Women Forced To Stay In Flooded Pak Village. Reason: "A Matter Of Honour"

Pakistan floods: Leaving for a relief camp would mean the village women mingling with men outside their families, residents said, and that would violate their "honour".

The 400 residents of Basti Ahmad Din, a tiny Pakistani village left surrounded by floodwater after torrential monsoon rains, are facing starvation and disease. But they have refused pleas to evacuate. Leaving for a relief camp would mean the women of the village mingling with men outside their families, residents told AFP, and that would violate their "honour".

The women of Basti Ahmad Din do not get a say.

"It is up to the village elders to decide," said Shireen Bibi, 17, when asked if she would prefer to go to the safety of a camp on dry land.

Catastrophic monsoon rains blamed on climate change have left vast swathes of Pakistan under water this summer, with villagers such as those in Basti Ahmad Din grappling with the destruction of their homes and livelihoods.