Pak Woman Killed By Family For Dancing With Boys In Viral Video

An 18-year-old Pakistani woman who appeared in a video dancing with boys was murdered by her family members, in a suspected honour killing. The woman belonging to Kohistan was in a widely-circulated video where she and her friend were seen dancing with some boys. The deceased woman's friend from the video was also sentenced to death by the jirga (council of village leaders) but escaped as the police intervened in the nick of time. 

According to ARY News, District Police Officer (DPO) Mukhtiar Tanoli said that the police are investigating the incident and that the girl's family members have been arrested. The incident has caused massive outrage across Pakistan, demanding an end to honour killings.

Killed For Dancing With Boys

According to reports, the women's families consulted the jirga leaders who advised both the women seen in the viral dancing video to be killed. The boys appearing in the video have gone into hiding since the murder. The girl's body was transferred to a nearby health facility for medical-legal procedures and subsequently returned to the family. 

"We have launched an investigation to trace those who killed the girl and who either advised or convened a jirga and sentenced her to death," a senior police official told Geo TV. The police also said that the other girl in the video said she felt no threat to her life from her family and wanted to go with them.

According to reports, this was the first case in over 10 years where women were killed upon consultation of the jirga. Five women were murdered on a jirga decree after their video clapping to a man dancing at a family event went viral in 2011. Later, three brothers of the man in the video were also killed in 2012. The informant who reported about these honour killings was also shot dead in March 2019.

Similar Recent Case From India

In October, police cracked the case of an honour killing in Mumbai and three people were arrested for the brutal murder of an interfaith couple. The deceased couple were identified as 22-year-old Karan Ramesh Chandra and his wife 20-year-old wife Gulnaz Khan from Banda, Uttar Pradesh, who got married in 2022 and came to live in Mumbai.

In October this year, the couple was found dead in a well by some children playing nearby. The Mumbai police formed 10 teams to identify the murderers who were later found four days later. The six accused in the case are Khan's father Gora Raisuddiun Khan, brother Salman Gora Khan and the latter’s friend Mohammed Kaif Naushad Khan, along with three minors being detained.