A young girl was allegedly murdered by her own family after a video, featuring her and other boys, went viral on social media in Kolai-Palas district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) Kohistan.
According to details, the girl was killed a day earlier in the Barsharyal village of Kohistan’s Palas district by her own family on orders issued by a local jirga – a claim that officials denied.
Talking to ARY News exclusively, District Police Officer (DPO) Mukhtiar Tanoli said that a video and separate pictures of two girls along with boys – who are said to have gone into hiding – went viral on social media on November 22.
On Nov 24, DPO Mukhtiar Tanoli said, one of the two girls was murdered by his father and uncle on the orders of a local jigra.
Fortunately, the police rescued the second girl and produced her before a local magistrate to record a statement. The girl said she felt no threat to her life by her family and wanted to go with them instead of being shifted to Dar-ul-Aman, the DPO added.
The district police officer claimed that pictures that went viral are ‘clearly edited’.
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.
Meanwhile, the Station House Officer (SHO) of the Palas police station lodged a first information report (FIR) of the murder under sections 302/311 and 109 of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).
The DPO further said that one suspect has been arrested while raids were being carried out to detain others. He noted that the family members killed the girl by themselves, and no such orders were issued by a local jigra.
On the other hand, KP Chief Minister Arshad Hussain Shah has taken notice of the incident and ordered provincial inspector-general to arrest the responsible as soon as possible.
The chief minister also ordered Additional Home Secretary to launch an inquiry into the incident and submit a report. He also ordered authorities to ensure measures to provide protection to the second girl.
The incident reminds of a distressing tragedy that left the country shocked 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, too, were 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.
