ISLAMABAD: Police in northwest Pakistan said on Tuesday they had arrested three village elders as suspects in the murder of an 18-year old woman after village elders called for her death because she had appeared in a picture on social media.
Every year, hundreds of women in Muslim Pakistan are victims of honor killings, carried out by relatives professing to be acting in defense of a family’s honor, rights group say, most often in deeply conservative rural areas.
The latest killing took place in the remote Kohistan area of Masehra district in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa district.
“Some people had uploaded pictures of the two girls,” Masood Khan, deputy superintendent of police in the Kolai-Palas district, some 150km northwest of Mansehra, told reporers, announcing the arrests of three village elders.
Police said one woman had been killed after a council of elders, known as a jirga, had ordered that she and a friend, who also appeared in the picture, be killed.
“They shot dead one of them while police rescued the second one,” Khan said, referring to villagers.
Such killings in Pakistan are often carried out over perceived offenses such as elopement, fraternization with men outside marriage or other infractions of religious and cultural values on female modesty, despite campaigns by rights groups and tighter laws. Women have also been killed for talking to men, wearing jeans or leaving abusive homes.
Last year, an appeals court acquitted the brother of a social media star, Qandeel Baloch, of her murder, a 2016 killing that sparked national outrage and changes in laws covering honor killings.
Five women from Kohistan were allegedly killed by their families in 2012 after they were filmed on a cellphone clapping and singing in a house with two boys. Mohammed Afzal, 31, also known as Afzal Kohistani, a young rights campaigner, who fought for seven years for justice for the five victims, was killed in 2019 by his own nephew.
Three jirga members arrested in killing of Pakistani woman over social media photo
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Three jirga members arrested in killing of Pakistani woman over social media photo
- Police said woman murdered after a jirga had ordered that she and a friend, who also appeared in the picture, be killed
- Hundreds of women in Pakistan are killed yearly in honor killings, carried out by relatives professing to defend family honor
Zimbabwe surprise as T20 World Cup Super Eights begin without Australia
- Pakistan and New Zealand will clash in Colombo on Saturday as the second “Super Eights” phase of the T20 World Cup kicks off
- India carry hopes of millions of cricket-obsessed fans of winning back-to-back T20 World Cups and lifting the trophy on home soil
Kolkata: Pakistan and New Zealand will clash in Colombo on Saturday as the second “Super Eights” phase of the T20 World Cup kicks off without former champions Australia, who shockingly failed to make it out of their group.
Instead, surprise packages Zimbabwe, who did not even qualify in 2024, topped Group B after a stunning unbeaten campaign where they not only beat Australia but also co-hosts Sri Lanka.
An injury-depleted Australia endured a chaotic campaign and failed to make the second phase of the T20 World Cup for the first time since 2009.
Australia’s acerbic media did not hold back in their criticism, citing selection “stuff-ups” and “shambolic” preparations, including a 3-0 pre-tournament series loss in Pakistan, for the embarrassment.
Australia coach Andrew McDonald admitted his players were “devastated” but any inquest into the failure would only begin “when we exit the shores here.”
India, the world number one-ranked T20 side, are hot favorites to retain their crown on home soil.
However, in the second round they face a tough rematch of the 2024 final against an in-form South Africa in Ahmedabad at a packed 130,000-capacity Narendra Modi stadium on Sunday.
Both teams came through the first round phase with four wins from four.
India are on a 12-match unbeaten run at the T20 World Cup, stretching back to their defeat in the semifinal against eventual winners England in 2022.
No team has won back-to-back T20 World Cups or lifted the trophy on home soil, and India have the hopes of hundreds of million of cricket-obsessed fans on their shoulders.
But India have not been consistent and have a problem at the top of the order with their number one-ranked batter Abhishek Sharma recording three consecutive ducks.
Their batting has looked shaky and India were 77-6 against the United States before coming through to win.
Also in Super Eights Group 1 are Zimbabwe and the West Indies, who meet in Mumbai on Monday, with all that group’s games being hosted in India.
ENGLAND YET TO FIRE
The West Indies toppled England convincingly in the group phase and the two-time champions have all-round strength in depth.
They won the T20 World Cup the last time it was hosted in India, in 2016, and have started in clinical fashion, winning all four group games.
They will be extremely wary of Zimbabwe, whose colorful band of traveling supporters have had plenty to cheer so far. Even a washout against Ireland could not dampen their spirits.
In Sri Lanka, Group 2 pits the co-hosts against England, Pakistan and New Zealand.
The top two from each group will advance to the semifinals.
Pakistan were the last team to secure their berth. They did so by beating Namibia by 102 runs, with captain Salman Agha calling it a “complete performance” as they bounced back from a group defeat to bitter rivals India.
Another pre-tournament fancy, England stumbled through their group matches in Mumbai and Kolkata, losing to the only Test-playing side they faced, the West Indies.
Harry Brook’s side were unconvincing in wins against minnows Nepal, Scotland and finally Italy, who were making their World Cup debut.
But they return to a happy hunting ground in Kandy to face Sri Lanka on Sunday at a venue where England swept a T20 series 3-0 this month, with Sam Curran taking a hat-trick along the way.
Their top order needs to find form, with explosive openers Jos Buttler and Phil Salt yet to make a telling score and Brook failing to fire.
Sri Lanka have also been hot and cold.
Pathum Nissanka scored a superb century on Monday to all but end Australia’s tournament.
But they lost to Zimbabwe in their final group game, although Nissanka was in the runs again with 62.
