RAZMAK: North Waziristan police on Sunday arrested two men for their alleged involvement in the “honour killing” of two teenage girls after a short mobile video of them with a young man surfaced on social media.
The Razmak police station in North Waziristan, in whose jurisdiction the murders were reported, on Friday had registered an FIR of the incident with the state as the complainant and had started an investigation.
According to the FIR, the incident had taken place on May 14 around 2pm at Shaam Plain Garyom, a border village of North and South Waziristan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“A confirmed report was received that two girls aged 16 and 18 were killed in the name of honour by their paternal cousin, whose name and address is not known, in Shaam Plain Garyom,” the FIR had said. It had added that the reason behind the killings was believed to be a video which showed a young man recording himself with three young girls in a secluded area outdoors. “The
arrests were made during a raid at a far-flung area in the jurisdiction of Razmak police station,” an official told newsmen today, speaking on the condition on anonymity.
The suspects are related to the victims; one is the father of the first girl while the other is the brother of the second girl, he said, adding that the culprits have been shifted to Razmak police station.
“Initial investigations show that the suspects opened fire on the victims over the video scandal,” the official said. Further investigations are under way, he added.
According to the official, both the suspects told police that the victims were killed and buried in their native village. “The suspects will be presented before a judge for their judicial remand,” the official added.
Another police official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, told Dawn.com that North and South Waziristan police were conducting a joint investigation.
“However, at this point officials are clueless about the third girl and the man who recorded the mobile video,” he said.
On Saturday, a senior police officer in Waziristan had confirmed the incident and said that two of the three girls seen in the 52-second mobile clip had been killed. He had said that police were collecting information about the third girl and the man seen in the video.
The official had said that the video in question was shot nearly a year ago and most probably went viral on social media a few weeks ago. “As per the information received by police so far, the third girl and the boy are alive,” the officer had said while quoting a report by the area tehsildar.
“At the moment, our topmost priority is to secure the life of the third girl and the man before taking any action,” he had added.
The leaders of Women’s Democratic Front (WDF) strongly condemning the killing of two young women in the name of “honor” in Waziristan have demanded justice for them. In a joint press release issued on Sunday, WDF leaders Alya Bakhshal, Ismat Shahjahan, Mumtaz Tajik and Nargis Khattak said that it’s outrageous how incidents of patriarchal violence against women largely go unnoticed by those in power.
Ismat Shahjahan said, “This incident is the embodiment of patriarchal violence and the overgrown patriarchy which is responsible for taking the lives of many women. Women’s bodies are not repositories of family honor. –Agencies
