Pakistani police have made multiple arrests after a couple were allegedly murdered in board daylight on the orders of a tribal elder for having an ‘illicit’ relationship, in the latest so called “honor killing” in the country.
The killing 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 chief minister Sarfraz 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 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 shoot her at close range. The woman remains standing after two shots, collapsing only after the third, the video shows. The video the captures more gunshot. Another video shows the bloodied bodies of a man and woman lying side by side.
The man and woman were killed because they were allegedly engaged in a relationship considered ‘illicit” by a local tribal leader, according to police. The leader had allegedly issued a verdict to execute them, the police report said.
Honor killings remains disturbingly common in Pakistan, with hundreds of cases reported each year though expert believe the real number is much higher due to underreporting . These murders are typically carried out by family members or village leader who believe a relative often a woman has brought shame upon the family, sometime for reasons as seemingly innocuous as marrying by choice seeking a divorce, or defying traditional gender roles.
