QUETTA, Pakistan: Pakistan has arrested 11 suspects after a video emerged on social media of a woman and a man being shot and killed for marrying against the wishes of their families, in a so-called honor killing, authorities said.
The couple, who were not identified, were shot dead on the orders of a local tribal council last month in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, according to provincial authorities, who investigated after the video went viral.
Eleven suspects have been arrested, the provincial chief minister, Sarfraz Bugti, said in a statement on Monday, hours after he announced that the location and people in the video had been identified.
A case has been registered against all those involved, Bugti said, adding that they will be prosecuted.
The video shows people in a desert, and some pickup trucks and SUVs in which they had apparently been driven there. The woman is given a copy of the Qur’an, the Muslim holy book, and she then tells a man: “Come walk seven steps with me, after that you can shoot me.”
The man then follows her for a few steps. A local police official said the woman did not cry or seek mercy.
“You are allowed only to shoot me. Nothing more than that,” the woman says in the regional Brahavi language, translated by the official.
It was not clear what she meant by “nothing more than that.” The man, who had followed her, then aimed a pistol at her as she turned her back to the shooter.
The woman, wrapped in a shawl, stood still as shots were fired. She remained standing after two shots, delivered from close range, dropping to the ground after the third shot.
That is followed by a series of gunshots. The footage then shows a bloodied man lying on the ground, close to the woman’s body. Then, men are shown shooting at both the bodies.
Reuters could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said that in 2024, there were at least 405 “honor killings,” criticizing the authorities for failing to stamp out these crimes. Most victims are women, and the killings are usually carried out by relatives professing to defend their family’s reputation, human rights groups say.
Conservative families in many parts of Pakistan and India do not allow couples to marry against their wishes.
