Pakistan police have arrested 11 people after a video of a couple being shot dead by a group of men in Balochistan went viral on social media. The video shows men leading the couple out of vehicles and into a desert before gunning them down with pistols and shooting their bodies.
According to a PTI report, political figures and activities have called the newlywed couple’s murder as “honour killing”, with the incident sparking outrage in the country.
Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti on Monday confirmed that 11 people have been arrested. They are suspected of being behind the “honour killing” of the couple, the report added.
What the video shows
The graphic video shows about a dozen men surrounding several vehicles in a desert. A woman, with her head wrapped in a shawl, can be seen walking in front of the vehicles as a man follows her, watched by the group.
“You are only allowed to fire at me, nothing else,” she can be heard saying in Brahvi, a local language, before the man raises a pistol and shoots her at close range, a CNN report said.
The woman remains standing, before finally collapsing after the third shot is fired. More gunshots can be heard in the video after the woman collapses.
Another video shows the bloodied bodies of a man and woman lying side by side, the report added.
FIR filed after video surfaces
A first information report (FIR) was registered by the Station House Officer Naveed Akhtar at Quetta’s Hanna-Urak police station, the Dawn newspaper reported.
Akhtar said he lodged the complaint after receiving the video clip that had gone viral on social media. He also said that upon investigation, his team discovered that the incident occurred three days before Eid-ul Azha.
“The victims seen in the viral video have been identified as Bano Bibi and Ihsanullah,” the FIR said, naming eight suspects who allegedly shot the couple dead. The FIR also mentioned 15 other unknown suspects involved in the incident.
“Owing to the nature of the murder, the case has now been transferred to the Serious Crime Investigation Wing for further investigation,” the newspaper quoted Akhtar as saying.
Tribal leader declared it an ‘immoral relationship’
Prior to being killed, the victims were allegedly taken to a tribal leader, who declared them guilty of being involved in an ‘immoral relationship’ and ordered their execution, following which they were taken to the desert and shot dead, the FIR said.
“The murder was filmed and uploaded to social media to spread fear and panic among the public,” it added.
The men in the video were heard speaking the Brahui language, spoken in many parts of Balochistan.
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari called the suspects “beasts”, saying that they deserved no concessions.
Baloch activist Sammi Deen Baloch decried the shooting as an ‘honour’ killing, appealing to Baloch elders to “respect women’s decisions”.
“As a woman, this chilling incident is deeply painful and heart-wrenching for me,” she wrote on X. “Killing any woman in the name of honour is not only a heinous crime but also the worst humiliation of humanity.