Latest news with #honorkilling
Arab News
a day ago
- Arab News
Pakistan police say woman shot seven, man nine times in ‘honor killing' incident
QUETTA: The woman victim of the Balochistan 'honor killing' incident was shot seven times while the male victim received nine bullet injuries, Pakistan police confirmed after conducting a post-mortem examination of the slain individuals this week. The killings in the southwestern Balochistan province, which took place in June, made headlines and triggered outrage in Pakistan after a video showing the couple being shot went viral online last week. The woman, identified by police as Bano Bibi Satakzai and the man, Ehsan Ullah Sumalani, were both shot dead in the Dagari area located on the outskirts of Quetta. Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti told reporters on Monday that 12 suspects have been arrested in connection with the violence, including a tribal leader, who allegedly ordered the couple to be shot. Bugti hinted during the press conference, avoiding to share details, that both victims were allegedly having an extramarital affair. Dr. Ayesha Faiz, a Balochistan Police surgeon, told Arab News that Satakzai and Sumalani were killed on June 4 and buried in different graveyards in Dagari. 'After the postmortem, it was found that Bano Bibi had received seven bullet injuries on her head, abdomen and chest, and Ehsan Ullah received nine bullets on his chest and abdomen,' Faiz said. Syed Saboor Agha, head of the Serious Crimes Investigation Wing (SCIW) leading the probe, said police have taken nine other people into custody on suspicion of hiding the crime from authorities. He confirmed the victims were involved in an extramarital affair. 'The prime accused in this case is Jalal, (brother) of murdered Bano Bibi who is still undercover and raids are being conducted to arrest him,' Agha said. 'Because his arrest will likely uncover further details as he was the woman's brother, who along with his maternal uncle, opened fire at them.' So-called honor killings are common in Pakistan, where family members and relatives sometimes kill women and men who don't follow local traditions and culture or decide to marry of their own choice. Yasmeen Mughal, the provincial coordinator for the Aurat Foundation, a non-profit that monitors violence against women and cases of honor killings in Pakistan, said 212 people have been killed in so-called honor cases in Balochistan in the last five years. Of these, she said 33 women were killed last year. Raza Rumi, a Pakistani policy analyst, journalist and author who is currently a lecturer at The City University of New York, said tribal councils or jirgas have no legal or moral authority to decide matters involving human life. 'Honor killings are criminal acts, not cultural practices,' Rumi said. 'Allowing jirgas to decide such cases legitimizes violence and undermines the constitution and rule of law.' Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the incident on Monday, tasking Bugti to hold an investigation and punish those behind the killings. 'No one is above the law and no one can be allowed to take the law into their own hands,' Sharif said. 'All legal steps should be taken to bring the suspects to justice.'
Arab News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Pakistan PM condemns Balochistan ‘honor killing,' calls for bringing perpetrators to justice
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday condemned 'honor killing' of a young couple in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province and called for bringing the perpetrators of justice, following public outrage over a video clip of the incident that has gone viral online since last week. In a video circulating on social media, more than a dozen men are seen gathered in a remote, mountainous desert area, with SUVs and pickup trucks parked nearby. A woman is ordered to stand facing away from the group before a man pulls out a gun and shoots her in the back. He then turns the weapon on a man and shoots him dead as well. Several news outlets reported that the man and woman had just gotten married and were shot dead for marrying by choice upon the orders of a traditional tribal council formed to settle disputes. However, speaking to reporters at a news conference, Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti said the victims were not husband and wife. On Monday, PM Sharif spoke with CM Bugti over the phone and instructed him to hold investigation into the incident and punish those behind the killing in accordance with law, according to the prime minister's office. 'No one is above the law and no one can be allowed to take the law into their own hands,' Sharif said. 'All legal steps should be taken to bring the suspects to justice. 'I immediately took notice of this incident and ordered IG [inspector-general] of police to arrest the suspects within 24 hours,' Bugti said. 'Initially, one and then 11 more were arrested in this case. Raids are being conducted to apprehend others involved.' Bugti earlier announced the arrest of 12 suspects in the case, saying a tribal leader was also among the arrestees. He, however, said relatives of neither of the victims had filed a complaint. 'Not a single person is ready to come forward as a victim in this case or file an FIR [first information report],' he said. On Sunday, Balochistan government spokesman Shahid Rind said the incident captured in the viral video had taken place in Balochistan a few weeks ago. 'This area [where the incident took place] has been identified,' Rind said. 'Both families did not report the incident. We will have a case registered with the state as complainant.' So-called honor killings are common in Pakistan, where family members and relatives sometimes kill women and men who don't follow local traditions and culture or decide to marry of their own choice. On Sunday, the Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC), a group of clerics and religious scholars, called the couple's killing 'un-Islamic, anti-Sharia and terrorism,' urging the registration of terrorism cases against the ones involved in such incidents.
CBS News
2 days ago
- Politics
- CBS News
"Honor killing" of newlywed couple leads to 11 arrests, police in Pakistan say
Quetta, Pakistan — Police in Pakistan arrested 11 suspects after a video went viral that showed a young couple murdered for marrying without their families' approval, authorities said Monday. The disturbing footage caused an uproar in the country, with activists demanding swift justice and a stop to so-called honor killings, in which family members target women who don't follow local traditions and culture or decide to marry someone of their choosing. The video, which surfaced over the weekend on social media and was viewed by The Associated Press, showed a man executing the young couple at close range in daylight as others stood by. Police confirmed the authenticity of the footage, saying the killings happened in the Deghari district in the province of Balochistan, said Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti. In the video, several men arrive in pickup trucks in a mountainous region, and a young woman, speaking the local language, says she is legally married. "Come, walk seven steps with me, and then you can only shoot me," she says. It isn't clear what she meant. A man follows her, takes out a gun and shoots her three times before she collapses on the ground. He then shoots and kills her husband before another man takes out a gun and joins him in shooting the groom. The video ends with both victims lying bloodied on the ground. Local police identified the bride and groom only as Bano Bibi and Ahsan Ullah and released some of the suspects' names, saying the provincial government had initiated the investigation as none of the couple's family members came forward. "The bravery shown by the slain woman is both humbling and remarkable, as she neither begged for her life nor showed any weakness," said Farhatullah Babar, a Pakistani human rights activist. He condemned the couple's killing and called for strict punishment for everyone involved in the "brutal murder of the newlywed couple." A tribal elder, Sardar Satakzai, ordered the couple killed after the bride's brother complained she married without his consent, said police chief, Naveed Akhtar. Both were among the 11 arrested in a series of raids and authorities were looking for nine more suspects, he said. The video was shot and posted by an unidentified person, Akhtar said. Honor killings are still common in Pakistan. In January, police arrested a Pakistani man suspected of killing his U.S.-born 15-year-old daughter for refusing to stop posting videos on TikTok, a platform with more than 54 million users in the country. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said there were at least 405 honor killings there last year, mostly of women, as it criticized authorities for failing to stamp them out, according to the Reuters news agency.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Police arrest 11 suspects over 'honor killing' of newlywed couple in Pakistan
QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — Police in southwestern Pakistan arrested 11 suspects after a video went viral, showing a young couple murdered for marrying without their families' approval, authorities said Monday. The disturbing footage caused an uproar in the country, with activists demanding swift justice and a stop to so-called honor killings, where family members target women who don't follow local traditions and culture or decide to marry someone of their choosing. The video, which surfaced over the weekend on social media and was viewed by The Associated Press, showed a man executing the young couple at close range in daylight as others stood by. Police confirmed the authenticity of the footage, saying the killings happened in the Deghari district in the province of Balochistan, said Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti In the video, several men arrive in pickup trucks in a mountainous region, and a young woman, speaking the local language, says she is legally married. 'Come, walk seven steps with me, and then you can only shoot me,' she says. It isn't clear what she meant. A man follows her, takes out a gun and shoots her three times before she collapses on the ground. He then shoots and kills her husband before another man takes out a gun and joins him in shooting the groom. The video ends with both victims lying bloodied on the ground. Local police identified the bride and groom only as Bano Bibi and Ahsan Ullah and released some of the suspects' names, saying the provincial government had initiated the investigation as none of the couple's family members came forward. 'The bravery shown by the slain woman is both humbling and remarkable, as she neither begged for her life nor showed any weakness,' said Farhatullah Babar, a Pakistani human rights activist. He condemned the couple's killing and called for strict punishment for everyone involved in the 'brutal murder of the newlywed couple.' A tribal elder, Sardar Satakzai, ordered the couple killed after the bride's brother complained she married without his consent, said police chief, Naveed Akhtar. Both were among the 11 arrested in a series of raids and authorities were looking for nine more suspects, he said. The video was shot and posted by an unidentified person, Akhtar said. Honor killings are still common in Pakistan. In January, police arrested a Pakistani man suspected of killing his U.S.-born 15-year-old daughter for refusing to stop posting videos on TikTok, a platform with more than 54 million users in the country.
CNN
2 days ago
- CNN
A couple were accused of having an ‘illicit' relationship. Their community allegedly shot them dead
Pakistani police have made multiple arrests after a couple were allegedly murdered in broad daylight on the orders of a tribal elder for having an 'illicit' relationship, in the latest so-called 'honor killing' in the country. The killings last month in the southwestern Balochistan province, underscores the shocking and persistent nature of such crimes across parts of Central and South Asia, where family and community members believe they can restore 'honor' through bloodshed. At least 11 people have been arrested since video of the incident recently went viral on social media, Balochistan's chief minister Safraz Bugti said. Graphic video of the killing shows about a dozen men surrounding several vehicles in a desert. A woman, her head wrapped in a shawl, can be seen slowly walking in front of one of the vehicles as a man follows her, watched by the group. 'You are only allowed to fire at me, nothing else,' she can be heard saying in Brahvi, a local language, before the man raises a pistol and shoots her at close range. The woman remains standing after two shots, collapsing only after the third, the video shows. The video then captures more gunshots. Another video shows the bloodied bodies of a man and woman lying side by side. CNN cannot independently verify the authenticity of the videos. Police told CNN they believe the footage does show the murder under investigation. The man and woman were killed because they were allegedly engaged in a relationship considered 'illicit' by a local tribal leader, according to a police report seen by CNN. The leader had allegedly issued a verdict to execute them, the police report said. Honor killings remain disturbingly common in Pakistan, with hundreds of cases reported each year — though experts believe the real number is much higher due to underreporting. These murders are typically carried out by family members or village leaders who believe a relative, often a woman, has brought 'shame' upon the family, sometimes for reasons as seemingly innocuous as marrying by choice, seeking a divorce, or defying traditional gender roles. Deeply-rooted patriarchal norms that equate family honor with women's behavior, cultural acceptance, and weak law enforcement, allow perpetrators to act with near impunity. In recent years, a string of high-profile so-called honor killings have made headlines in Pakistan, drawing national and international condemnation and underscoring the persistence of the practice. In 2016, social media star Qandeel Baloch was murdered by her brother in a so-called 'honor killing.' Baloch gained both fame and notoriety in inherently conservative and patriarchal Pakistan for her bold, sassy and increasingly political social media posts. Her murder sparked a national outcry and promoted changes in the country's so-called 'honor killing' laws. Honor killings now carry a life sentence but the change in legislation has not made the crimes go away. At least 335 women and 119 men were killed in so-called 'honor killings' last year alone, according to data from the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). Balochistan's chief minister Bugti called the most recent alleged murder 'intolerable' and a 'blatant violation of social values and human dignity.'
