Latest news with #Eid-ulAzha
Mint
21-07-2025
- Mint
Pakistan honour killing: Newlywed couple shot dead in Balochistan; 11 held after video of woman's ‘execution' goes viral
Pakistan police have arrested 11 people after a video of a couple being shot dead by a group of men in Balochistan went viral on social media. The video shows men leading the couple out of vehicles and into a desert before gunning them down with pistols and shooting their bodies. According to a PTI report, political figures and activities have called the newlywed couple's murder as 'honour killing', with the incident sparking outrage in the country. Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti on Monday confirmed that 11 people have been arrested. They are suspected of being behind the "honour killing" of the couple, the report added. The graphic video shows about a dozen men surrounding several vehicles in a desert. A woman, with her head wrapped in a shawl, can be seen walking in front of the vehicles as a man follows her, watched by the group. 'You are only allowed to fire at me, nothing else,' she can be heard saying in Brahvi, a local language, before the man raises a pistol and shoots her at close range, a CNN report said. The woman remains standing, before finally collapsing after the third shot is fired. More gunshots can be heard in the video after the woman collapses. Another video shows the bloodied bodies of a man and woman lying side by side, the report added. A first information report (FIR) was registered by the Station House Officer Naveed Akhtar at Quetta's Hanna-Urak police station, the Dawn newspaper reported. Akhtar said he lodged the complaint after receiving the video clip that had gone viral on social media. He also said that upon investigation, his team discovered that the incident occurred three days before Eid-ul Azha. 'The victims seen in the viral video have been identified as Bano Bibi and Ihsanullah,' the FIR said, naming eight suspects who allegedly shot the couple dead. The FIR also mentioned 15 other unknown suspects involved in the incident. 'Owing to the nature of the murder, the case has now been transferred to the Serious Crime Investigation Wing for further investigation," the newspaper quoted Akhtar as saying. Prior to being killed, the victims were allegedly taken to a tribal leader, who declared them guilty of being involved in an 'immoral relationship' and ordered their execution, following which they were taken to the desert and shot dead, the FIR said. 'The murder was filmed and uploaded to social media to spread fear and panic among the public,' it added. The men in the video were heard speaking the Brahui language, spoken in many parts of Balochistan. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari called the suspects 'beasts', saying that they deserved no concessions. Baloch activist Sammi Deen Baloch decried the shooting as an 'honour' killing, appealing to Baloch elders to 'respect women's decisions'. 'As a woman, this chilling incident is deeply painful and heart-wrenching for me,' she wrote on X. 'Killing any woman in the name of honour is not only a heinous crime but also the worst humiliation of humanity.
Express Tribune
20-06-2025
- Health
- Express Tribune
Deaths from Congo virus
Listen to article Just this week, five fatal cases of the Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF), commonly called Congo fever, have been reported in the country. Three of the deaths happened in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and two in Karachi. The deaths in Karachi – of two men ageing 25 and 42 – mark the first in Sindh this year from Congo virus. Both succumbed within days of their diagnoses, highlighting the severity of the disease and the lack of timely intervention, medical preparedness, and public awareness surrounding it. Despite being endemic and officially recognised as a major public health threat, the prevalence of Congo virus is not widely documented in Pakistan. Symptoms of the disease can include fever, muscle pains, headache, vomiting, diarrhoea, and even bleeding under the skin. The virus is mainly spread to humans through tick bites or by coming into contact with the blood or tissue of infected animals, which exacerbates its spread during and after the Eid-ul Azha season. This year, roughly 6.8 million animals were sacrificed in Pakistan, according to the Pakistan Tanners Association (PTA). However, the country lacks a proper system required to manage the health and safety risks of such a large-scale event. Livestock are often brought into the city without regulatory health screening and temporary cattle markets are erected without an understanding of biosecurity protocols. The use of gloves, protective clothing and proper disposal of animal waste is advised by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) ahead of the festival but not only are these practices barely observed, they are often considered unnecessary and needless. Unfortunately, prevention and care are the only options for managing the Congo virus as there are no FDA- or WHO-approved drugs for CCHF, or a commercially available vaccine. Therefore, the government must boost its efforts to strengthen surveillance, public awareness and biosecurity measures to prevent wider outbreaks in the future.
