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.
