Pakistani police are investigating the so-called “honour killing” of a young woman who appeared in a viral photo that police suspect was doctored.
Authorities in remote Kohistan said the 18-year-old was shot dead by her father and uncle last week on orders from elders of a tribal jirga (council).
Her father was arrested on a murder complaint and her uncle is on the run, police say. She has not been named.
The man in the photo, whom the jirga wanted dead, is in protective custody.
Two others – a young woman and a young man – also received death threats after their doctored pictures went viral on Pakistani social media, police said.
Police said the pictures in both cases appeared to have been photoshopped and posted on fake social media accounts, and that they are investigating who is behind the pictures.
Local authorities took the second woman into protective custody but released her back to her family after a court hearing, where she said she faced no risk to her life at home.
Kohistan, a mountainous region of northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, is a notoriously conservative and inaccessible area where a number of so-called honour killings have been reported in recent years. These killings are usually carried out by relatives who say they are acting in defence of their family’s honour.
On Monday, Pakistani media outlet Geo News reported police were also raiding the home of the dead woman to find other villagers involved in the call for her killing.
In areas such as Kohistan, the idea that a murder can be “honourable” is believed to have come from tribal customs, where an allegation against a woman is perceived to have brought dishonour upon relatives. According to these customs, male family members of a woman who has interactions with unrelated men – however innocuous – should first kill the woman, then go after the man.
Human rights groups say the most common reasons for “honour killings” are that the victim may have refused to enter into an arranged marriage or have been raped or sexually assaulted. (BBC)