QUETTA: Police in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province said on Wednesday they had booked a man for killing his 14-year-old daughter, an American citizen, on allegations she had committed blasphemy and posted objectionable videos of herself on TikTok.
Anwaar-ul-Haq, who was living in New York for the past 28 years, returned with his family to the southwestern Quetta city on Jan. 22 to meet relatives in the city, Station House Officer (SHO) Babar Shahwani of the Gawalmandi Police Station said.
Shahwani said Haq filed a complaint with police on Jan. 27 that unidentified men shot his daughter dead outside their home in Quetta at around 11:00 pm.
“The police commenced initial investigations from the family and we booked her father and uncle who during interrogations confessed to killing Hira,” Shahwani told Arab News.
Zohaib Mohsin, senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) for Serious Crimes Investigation Wing Balochistan, told Arab News that Haq brought his daughter outside their home when his brother-in-law, Muhammad Tayyab, shot her multiple times.
“We have confiscated Hira’s mobile phone and sent for forensic which would unfold more aspects of the murder,” Mohsin said.
Shahwani said Haq confessed during interrogation that he killed his daughter and alleged that she stopped believing in Islam and used to make blasphemous remarks, and posted objectionable videos of herself on TikTok.
Under Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, anyone found guilty of insulting Islam or its religious figures can be sentenced to death. Authorities have yet to carry out such a penalty, although the accusation of blasphemy and opposition to the law can incite mob violence or reprisals.
Mohsin said the investigation so far has revealed that the family objected to Hira’s dressing, lifestyle, social gatherings and relations.
Arab News attempted to contact Hira’s family but they refused to speak to the media.
Every year, hundreds of women in conservative 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.
According to an annual report on women’s honor killings in Balochistan issued by the Aurat Foundation (AF), a private group advocating for women’s rights and voicing against the honor killings of women in the impoverished province, 33 women were killed in Balochistan on the name of honor from January to December 2024.
The report also said 212 women were killed in Balochistan in the name of honor during the last five years.
Police in Pakistan’s Quetta book man for killing daughter over alleged blasphemy, posting TikTok videos
https://arab.news/ph6y6
Police in Pakistan’s Quetta book man for killing daughter over alleged blasphemy, posting TikTok videos
- Anwaar-ul-Haq, a resident of New York, brought his family to Quetta this month to meet relatives, say police
- Merely accusations of blasphemy and opposition to its laws can incite violent mob attacks and reprisals
Pakistan to send over 10,000 workers to Italy over three years after securing employment quota
- Government says Italy will admit 3,500 workers annually under seasonal and non-seasonal labor schemes
- It calls the deal a 'milestone' as Italy becomes the first European country to allocate job quota for Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has secured a quota of 10,500 jobs from Italy over the next three years, an official statement said on Saturday, opening legal employment pathways for Pakistani workers in Europe under Italy’s seasonal and non-seasonal labor programs.
Under the arrangement, 3,500 Pakistani workers will be employed in Italy each year, including 1,500 seasonal workers hired for time-bound roles, and 2,000 non-seasonal workers for longer-term employment across sectors.
The Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development said Italy is the first European country to allocate a dedicated labor quota to Pakistan, describing the move as a milestone in Pakistan’s efforts to expand overseas employment opportunities beyond traditional labor markets in the Middle East.
“After prolonged efforts, doors to employment for the Pakistani workforce in Italy are about to open,” Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis Chaudhry Salik Hussain said, calling the quota allocation a “historic milestone.”
The jobs will be available across multiple sectors, including shipbreaking, hospitality, healthcare and agriculture, with opportunities for skilled and semi-skilled workers in professions such as welding, technical trades, food services, housekeeping, nursing, medical technology and farming.
The agreement comes as Pakistan seeks to diversify overseas employment destinations for its workforce and increase remittance inflows, which remain a key source of foreign exchange for the country’s economy.
The ministry said a second meeting of the Pakistan-Italy Joint Working Group on labor cooperation is scheduled to be held in Islamabad in February 2026, where implementation and future cooperation are expected to be discussed.
