Girl, 18 in Pakistan Executed By Family for Dancing with Boys

Police in Pakistan are probing the death of an 18-year-old woman after villages demanded her death because she danced with boys in a video uploaded to social media, authorities said on Monday. The girl’s murder has sparked outrage in Pakistan, with many calling for an end to honour killings.

According to police, the teen was shot and killed after a council of elders, known as a Jirga, ordered her and a friend, who also appears in video, to be killed. According to police, some of the suspects were relatives of the murdered teenager.

“Some people had uploaded the video of the two girls dancing with boys,” Masood Khan, deputy superintendent of police in the Kolai-Palas district in northwest Pakistan’s mountains near the Afghan border, said.

“They shot one of them while police rescued the other,” he told Reuters.

Every year, hundreds of women in Muslim Pakistan are victims of honour killings committed by relatives claiming to be acting in defense of a family’s honor, according to human rights organizations, frequently in very traditional rural communities.

Syed Irshad Hussain Shah, the interim chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said he had instructed police to arrest individuals responsible.

“We are investigating,” Khan added, adding that male relatives of the young woman were believed to be involved in the killing. He stated that the second woman had been released to her family after a judge evaluated her safety.

According to Khan, public photos of women are considered taboo in the area.

Despite rights groups’ campaigns and tougher legislation, such killings are frequently carried out for perceived offenses such as elopement, fraternization with males outside marriage, or other violations of religious and cultural ideals on female modesty.

Pakistan  Social Media Star Murdered in Honor Killing

Last year, an appeals court convicted the brother of a social media star Qandeel Baloch, of her murder, a 2016 death that provoked national anger and reforms in legislation governing honour killings.

A Pakistan court charged the social media star’s brother with her murder, in one of the country’s most high-profile “honour killings.” Qandeel Baloch was strangled by her brother Muhammad Waseem after she became famous for her daring selfies that polarized the devout Muslim country.

In a news conference following his detention, he said she had brought dishonor to the family and admitted to his crime.

Her critics slandered her while fans complimented her for defying social norms by appearing in videos that would appear moderate by Western standards.

Waseem appeared in court in Multan’s center city, along with his cousin Haq Nawaz, whom authorities suspected of being an accomplice, but the nature of his involvement was unknown. Abdul Basit, a taxi driver, is a second indicted accomplice who is out on bail.

Baloch’s most infamous exploits included offering to perform a striptease for the Pakistani cricket team and dressing in a plunging crimson gown on Valentine’s Day. She also posed for selfies with a prominent mullah, prompting the Islamic affairs ministry to chastise him.

Waseem stated at a news conference that he was not sorry for what he did, calling his sister’s behavior “intolerable.”

Her death prompted calls for action against so-called “honor killings,” in which a victim is killed by a close relative – who, under Pakistani law, can be pardoned by another family member.

In October, Pakistan’s parliament passed legislation to eliminate the power to forgive “honour” killings. However, some detractors argue that some loopholes remain.