Kohistan honour killing: Father kills daughter over viral video which turns out to be fake, police

A young girl is reported to have been murdered in the name of honour over a viral video, while another was rescued by police in a case involving a viral video in the Kolai-Palas district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

However, in the latest development police on Monday revealed that the pictures of two young girls from Kohistan, including the one who was killed for honour, were doctored and posted on fake social media accounts.

The video in question went viral on social media around four days ago and also featured boys who are believed to have since gone into hiding.

The issue came to light after the girl was allegedly killed by her father and other male family members in the name of Honour on the orders of Jirga.

The girl was murdered on Sunday in the Barsharyal village of Kohistan’s Palas — 150km northwest of Mansehra.

The police arrested the father of the girl and recovered the weapon.

As reported, the Station House Officer (SHO) of the Palas police station lodged a first information report of the murder by himself under sections 302/311 and 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

“We have launched an investigation to trace those who killed the girl and who either advised or convened a jirga and sentenced her to death,” he said.

On Monday, the body of the girl was shifted to a nearby health facility for doctors to carry out medico-legal formalities and was later handed over to the family.

It has been stated in the registered case that the pictures of the victim with a boy went viral, after which the father and uncle of the victim killed the girl inside the house by firing with a pistol.

“The father of the girl will be produced before the court today,” Regional Police Officer of Hazara Muhammad Ijaz Khan, told The News. He added that police were raiding the villages to arrest those who were involved in the decision to kill the girl.

Kohistan Police told BBC that pictures of two girls with two different boys went viral on social media and both boys are relatives of each other.

A local Jirga was and the four were declared ‘thieves’.

It should be noted that in Kohistan, anyone who wants to kill in the name of so-called honour is called a ‘thief’. After which, according to the local customs, it becomes necessary to kill the person.

According to the Kohistan police, they took the second girl into their protective custody and produced her in the court to get orders to transfer her to Darulman, but the girl stated in the court that she was not in any danger from her parents.

According to the Kohistan police, the girl’s parents were then warned and a security bond of Rs 30 lakh was obtained from them.

It is pertinent to mention here that a similar incident involving a video scandal was reported in 2011 in a Kohistan village.

The country was left in shock when five women were murdered on a jirga decree after their video clapping to a man dancing at a family event went viral in 2011.

Three brothers of the man in the video were also killed later, while the case was highlighted by their other brother Afzal Kohistani in 2012, who was also shot dead in March 2019 in Abbottabad after severe threats to his life.

The case, which also garnered international attention, was taken to the Supreme Court in 2013 after which then chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry took its suo motu notice and sentenced those involved to life imprisonment.