Viral ‘honour killing' starts ripple effect

The Star

4 days ago

A viral video of the 'honour killing' of a woman and her lover in a remote region has ignited national outrage, prompting scrutiny of long-standing tribal codes and calls for justice in a country where such killings often pass in silence.
While hundreds of so-called honour killings are reported in Pakistan each year, often with little public or legal response, the video of a woman and man accused of adultery being taken to the desert by a group of men to be killed has struck a nerve.
The video shows the woman, Bano Bibi, being handed a Quran by a man identified by police as her brother.
'Come walk seven steps with me. After that, you can shoot me,' she says, before walking forward a few feet and stopping with her back to the men.
The brother, Jalal Satakzai, then shoots her three times and she collapses.
Seconds later, he shoots and kills the man, Ehsan Ullah Samalani, whom Bano was accused of having an affair with.
The virality of the killings in Balochistan province prompted swift government action after.
Civil rights lawyer Jibran Nasir said, though, the government's response was more about performance than justice.
'The crime occurred months ago, not in secrecy but near a provincial capital, yet no one acted until 240 million witnessed the killing on camera,' he said.
'This isn't a response to a crime. It's a response to a viral moment.'
Police have arrested 16 people in Nasirabad district, including a tribal chief and the woman's mother.
The mother, Gul Jan Bibi, said the killings were carried out by family and local elders based on 'centuries-old Baloch traditions', and not on the orders of the tribal chief.
'We did not commit any sin,' she said in a video statement that also went viral.
She said her daughter, who had three sons and two daughters, had run away with Ehsan and returned after 25 days.
Police said Bano's younger brother, who shot the couple, remains at large.
Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti said it was a 'test' case and vowed to dismantle the illegal tribal courts operating outside the law.
Police had earlier said a jirga, an informal tribal council that issues extrajudicial rulings, had ordered the killings.
The video sparked online condemnation, with hashtags like #JusticeForCouple and #HonourKilling trending.
The Pakistan Ulema Council, a body of religious scholars, called the killings 'un-Islamic'.
Dozens of civil society members and rights activists staged a protest on Saturday in the provincial capital Quetta, demanding justice and an end to parallel justice systems.
Pakistan outlawed honour killings in 2016 after the murder of social media star Qandeel Baloch, closing a loophole that allowed perpetrators to go free if they were pardoned by family members.
Rights groups say enforcement remains weak, especially in rural areas where tribal councils still hold sway.
'In a country where conviction rates often fall to single digits, visibility, and the uproar it brings, has its advantages,' said constitutional lawyer Asad Rahim Khan.
'It jolts a complacent state that continues to tolerate jirgas in areas beyond its writ.'
Activists and analysts, however, are of the view that the outrage is unlikely to be sustained.
'There's noise now, but like every time, it will fade,' said Jalila Haider, a human rights lawyer in Quetta.
'In many areas, there is no writ of law, no enforcement. Only silence.'
Jalila said the killings underscore the state's failure to protect citizens in under-governed regions like Balochistan, where tribal power structures fill the vacuum left by absent courts and police.
'It's not enough to just condemn jirgas,' Haider said.
'The real question is: why does the state allow them to exist in the first place?' — Reuters