Police in north-western Pakistan on Monday confirmed the arrest of the close relatives of two teenage girls who were killed in the name of honour after they appeared in a viral video with a man.
The father of one of the victim and brother of the other were taken into custody and had confessed to the killings, local police official Mohamed Nawaz said.
A third girl who had appeared in the video was still alive and had been rescued, said police official Mohamed Ibrahim, but he didn’t disclose her whereabouts due to security concerns.
A video on social media showing a young man and the girls in a secluded area outdoors is believed to be the reason behind the killings in the North Waziristan region, once a stronghold of al-Qaeda.
The young man in the video with the girls, aged 16 and 18, was arrested while on the run in the northern town of Haripur, Ibrahim said.
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His accomplice, who allegedly shot the video and shared it on social media, was also arrested from the nearby region of South Waziristan, he said.
In tribal traditions and culture, women associating with male strangers are seen as an act of dishonor for the family.
Every year, around a thousand women are killed in honour killings for bringing shame to their families, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
Earlier this week, government officials and activists reported a notable increase in honour killings and murders due to domestic disputes during the coronavirus lockdown.
Pakistan fares badly on global gender indexes. In 2019, it ranked 164 out of 167 countries on the Women, Peace and Security Index, only placing above Syria, Afghanistan and Yemen.
(dpa/NAN)
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