Skip to main content

Another Kohistan girl killed on jirga’s orders

MANSEHRA: A young girl has been killed allegedly on the orders of a local jirga in Kohistan, a local police officer confirmed on Sunday, in an incident that brings back painful memories of the deaths of around five girls from the same part of the country in 2011.


The victim was one of two girls who could be seen dancing with local boys in a video that went viral on social media platforms, said Masood Khan, the deputy superintendent of police (DSP) in Kolai-Palas, some 150km northwest of Mansehra.


The DSP said the victim’s body had been moved from the crime scene to a nearby health facility for autopsy.


A second girl, he said, was rescued by the pol­ice due to expected threats to her life, but a senior civil judge sent her home with her father after she ruled out any danger to her life.


The boys who appeared in the videos have gone into hiding, fearing reprisals.


The videos and photos, which were apparently edited, went viral on social media three to four days ago, DSP Khan said.


The police officer said that as per local tradition, the jirga had declared those who appeared in the images circulating on social media as ‘chor’ (thieves) and issued a decree for their killing.


An FIR has been registered, and the culprits who issued the assassination decree and those who executed will be brought to justice, the police official said.


The FIR, a copy of which was seen by Dawn, has been lodged on the complaint of the Kolai-Palas police station SHO Noor Mohammad Khan, as the victim’s family did not approach police to register a case.


Sections 109 (abetment in crime), 302 (punishment of qatl-i-amd or premeditated murder) and 311 (punishment after the waiver of qisas) of the Pakistan Penal Code have been added in the FIR.


According to the FIR, medico-legal formalities, including the autopsy, were carried out by Kolai-Palas police.


A similar incident also occurred in the area a decade ago, when a video of local girls cheering for a dancing boy in 2011 went viral.


All five women in the video were allegedly killed, along with the boy’s four brothers, on the orders of a local jirga.


The alleged killings captured international attention, and then-Supreme Court chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry took suo motu notice of the incident.


Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2023


http://dlvr.it/SzM0B4

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Casualties feared in Dir clashes between FC, intruding militants: reports

LOWER DIR: Casualties are feared on both sides as militants from Afghanistan reportedly attacked Frontier Corps (FC) personnel at multiple locations at the Pak-Afghan border in Maidan area of Lower Dir district on Saturday, as per unconfirmed reports. According to local residents and official sources, there were reports of militants’ infiltration from the Afghan side via the Shahi border area at Lamotai Top, Suripao and Safarai forest. However, the reports were yet to be confirmed by Inter Services Public Relations, the military’s media wing. On getting information about the alleged infiltration, troops of the paramilitary force, FC, led by Captain Yasin, Captain Asfandiar and Subedar Hamza, advanced to block the militants’ movement, as per reports. The militants allegedly attacked the troops, who also retaliated, thus prompting fears of casualties on both sides. The security forces surrounded alleged militants at three different locations. Later, gunship helicopters lau...

PM Shehbaz pays tribute to martyred lieutenant, says military ‘cleaning’ Fitna-ul-Khawarij from Pakistan

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday paid tribute to an officer who embraced martyrdom during an exchange of fire in Tirah Valley’s Bagh area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) Khyber district, the Prime Minister’s office said in a notification on Sunday. According to a press release issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) today, an exchange of fire took place between security forces and terrorists on August 9 during which Lieutenant Uzair Mehmood Malik was injured. He succumbed to his injuries and embraced martyrdom at Combined Military Hospital (CMH) today, it said. “At one of the locations in Bagh, Lieutenant Uzair Mehmood Malik, leading his troops from the front, fought bravely and sent four Khawarij to hell,” the statement said. “However, during an intense fire exchange, the officer got critically injured and was under treatment at CMH Peshawar. Today he succumbed to injuries and embraced Shahadat.” The statement added that the security forces of Pakistan ...

Family points finger at PPP MNA, two sons in journalist Nasrullah Gadani’s murder in Ghotki

SUKKUR: Slain journalist Nasrullah Gadani’s mother and two relatives have reiterated the allegation in statements recorded under Section 164 CrPC in a Mirpur Mathelo court that Pakistan Peoples Party’s MNA and his two sons had Nasrullah killed through their men. Ms Pathani Gadani, who was complainant in the case, and witnesses, Yaqoub Gadani and Salahuddin Gadani along with their counsel advocate Salahuddin Panhwar appeared before the second civil and first magistrate the other day and told him that PPP MNA Khalid Khan Loond, his sons, Shehbaz Loond, who was chairman of Mirpur Mathelo municipal committee, and Noor Mohammad Loond, had Nasrullah slain but the trio was so powerful that police had not dared include their names in the FIR. They appealed to the court to bring Nasrullah’s real killers to justice as per law and serve speedy justice to the bereaved family. Gadanis’ counsel Salahuddin Panhwar told media persons that the complainant and the witnesses had clearly stated t...