ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani man who allegedly filmed his brother strangling their sister to death has been arrested as part of the latest “honor” killing that has outraged the country, police said Sunday.
Maria Bibi, 22, was killed overnight on March 17, allegedly by her brother Muhammad Faisal and in the presence of her father Abdul Sattar, near Toba Tek Singh town in the central-eastern province of Punjab.
A video filmed by the woman’s other brother Shehbaz, and which has gone viral, appears to show Faisal strangling the girl on a bed in the family home while their father sat nearby.
At one point, the video appears to show Shehbaz saying “father, tell him to let go,” but is rebuffed as his brother continues to strangle the motionless body for more than two minutes.
When Faisal is done, his father offers him water to drink.
“The police found out on March 24 that the girl had not died of natural causes. We registered a case, becoming the complainants ourselves,” Ata Ullah, a police official in Toba Tek Singh told AFP by phone.
Sattar and Faisal were immediately arrested, while Shehbaz was arrested on Saturday evening to determine the extent of his involvement, the officer said.
The murder had all the hallmarks of an “honor” killing, he added. Shehbaz’s wife, who also appears in the video, has also been arrested.
Much of Pakistani society operates under a strict code of “honor,” with women beholden to their male relatives over choices around education, employment and who they can marry.
Hundreds of women are killed by men in Pakistan every year for allegedly breaching this code.
According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, 316 “honor” crimes against women were recorded in the country in 2022.
But many cases go unreported, as families tend to protect the murderers — often male relatives.
The motive for the murder has not yet been established.
Police said that Faisal, the killer, allegedly caught his sister talking on a video call with an unknown man on several occasions.
The chief minister of Punjab province, Maryam Nawaz, has designated the matter as “high-profile,” a term used for cases of public interest, although the legal system still allows for men to murder women with impunity.
Pakistani man who filmed sister’s ‘honor’ killing arrested
https://arab.news/4jkjc
Pakistani man who filmed sister’s ‘honor’ killing arrested
- Maria Bibi, 22, was killed overnight on March 17, allegedly by her brother Muhammad Faisal in the presence of her father
- Video filmed by the woman’s other brother Shehbaz, which has gone viral, appears to show Faisal strangling the girl on bed
Pakistan offers Turkmenistan its Arabian Sea ports for wider access to ‘South Asia and beyond’
- PM Sharif meets Turkmen president in Ashgabat, calls for deeper trade and energy cooperation
- Islamabad cites Karachi and Gwadar as key to boosting regional connectivity, including TAPI links
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday urged Turkmenistan to expand trade and connectivity through Karachi and Gwadar, saying its Arabian Sea ports offer Turkmen businesses and exporters a direct route to South Asian and global markets, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office said after high-level talks in Ashgabat.
Pakistan and Turkmenistan have long discussed regional transport corridors and energy cooperation, including the Turkmenistan–Afghanistan–Pakistan–India (TAPI) gas pipeline, a proposed multibillion-dollar project that would carry Turkmen natural gas south through Afghanistan into Pakistan and India. Islamabad has also pushed to link the landlocked Central Asian states to the sea by offering transit access through its deep-water ports, which sit at the crossroads of the Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia.
On Thursday, Pakistan's Sharif met Serdar Berdimuhamedov, the president of Turkmenistan, in Ashgabat as both countries look to revive momentum in bilateral engagement after years of regional instability. Pakistan has supported Turkmen neutrality policies at the United Nations, while Ashgabat has backed Pakistan during crises, including helping evacuate Pakistani nationals caught in Iran during the Iran–Israel conflict earlier this year.
“The Prime Minister reaffirmed Pakistan’s desire to enhance connectivity with Turkmenistan through land and sea routes and said that Karachi and Gwadar ports were ideally located to be utilized by the Turkmen side to enhance their outreach to South Asia and beyond,” Sharif’s office said in a statement.
Sharif reiterated his intention to deepen trade and economic ties with Turkmenistan, saying enhanced transport links and energy cooperation could anchor long-term regional integration. He invited President Berdimuhamedow and Turkmenistan’s national leader, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, on official visits to Pakistan next year.
Sharif is on a two-day visit to Turkmenistan for the International Forum on Peace and Trust, accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Energy Minister Awais Leghari, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar and senior officials.
Turkmenistan’s president thanked Sharif for attending the UN-backed peace forum and said Ashgabat was keen to expand cooperation across multiple sectors, according to the statement.
