Pakistani police are investigating the murder of a teenage girl whose death was ordered by her village council of elders after a video of her dancing with young men was posted on social media.
The murder appears to be an “honor killing” carried out by the victim’s own father.
Various sources say the victim was between 16 and 18 years old. She was killed at her family home in the town of Kohistan, near the border with Afghanistan.
The chief provincial minister said the victim was killed by multiple gunshots fired by her “male relatives.” The woman’s father was arrested on Monday.
PAKISTANI HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS HOLD PLACARDS DURING A PROTEST IN ISLAMABAD ON MAY 29, 2014. (AAMIR QURESHI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)
The council of village elders, known as a jirga, ordered the killing of the young woman and her friend after images of them were uploaded to social media. The Times of India (TOI) reported the video, which went viral “three to four days” before the murder, showed the two girls “dancing with local boys.”
Some reports say the victim herself posted the video, possibly not realizing she would be accused of violating strict Islamic modesty codes.
The other girl in the video was “rescued” by police, but “a senior civil judge sent her home with her father after she ruled out any danger to her life,” according to TOI. This seems like an odd ruling as the council of elders laid a death sentence on both of the young women.
“The boys in the video have gone into hiding, fearing reprisals,” TOI added.
Reuters noted that honor killings are often committed in rural Pakistan “over perceived offenses such as elopement, fraternization with men outside marriage or other infractions of religious and cultural values on female modesty.”
Policemen escort hand-cuffed Muhammad Waseem, the brother of slain social media celebrity Qandeel Baloch, as he leaves the court after the verdict in Multan on September 27, 2019. (SS MIRZA/AFP/Getty Images)
In a landmark February 2022 ruling, a Pakistani appeals court acquitted the brother of social media celebrity Qandeel Baloch of murdering her in 2016, ostensibly because some of the witnesses retracted their testimony for unspecified reasons and because Baloch’s parents had “forgiven” her murder. The ruling was seen by human rights activists as a major setback in their campaign against honor killings.
Baloch’s brother, Muhammed Waseem, admitted to drugging and strangling her because he felt her activities brought “shame” to the family. Baloch became famous by posting glamorous, and occasionally provocative, photos and videos online.