State registers FIR after police say 19-year-old youth was killed by family members; a suspect arrested
A 19-year-old woman was allegedly shot dead by her uncle and cousin in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Lower Dir district after she was seen talking to a neighbor outside her house, police said on Wednesday.
The incident took place on June 26 in the hill village of Kharkai, within the jurisdiction of Khar police station.
The victim was the only child of her parents. His father had traveled abroad for work, while his mother died during childbirth last year. After his mother’s death, he lived with his uncle.
Read: 405 honor killings recorded in Pakistan in 2024: HRCP
According to the police, she was allegedly killed in the name of “honour.”
Superintendent of Police (Investigation) Rashid Khan, who is leading the investigation, said The express PAkGazette that a first information report (FIR) was registered in the case.
He said the victim was killed with Kalashnikov shots and bullet casings had been recovered from the crime scene.
According to the investigator, two suspects were named in the case: a father and a son, uncle and cousin of the victim. One suspect was arrested, while efforts were underway to arrest the other.
The officer said the victim had no siblings and his father was abroad, prompting the police to register the case as a complaint to ensure firm prosecution. He expressed confidence that the suspects will be brought to justice.
Lower Dir District Police Officer (DPO) Captain (retd) Bilal Furqan said The express PAkGazette that an all-female police team was sent to the area immediately after the incident. He said the victim’s body was sent for an autopsy.
He said the FIR was registered in the name of the state through the station house officer under Section 302 (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code, along with Section 311 related to so-called honor killings.
Read also: Only women are murdered in 90% of honor crimes.
The DPO said police arrested one of the suspects, the victim’s cousin, two days after the incident.
Reports had circulated that the victim was buried without funeral prayers after the murder. However, police confirmed that a local religious scholar led her funeral prayers and that she was buried according to normal procedures.
Honor killings remain a serious and persistent human rights issue in Pakistan despite legal reforms and growing public awareness.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan reported that at least 405 so-called honor killings were recorded in Pakistan in 2024. In its annual report for 2025, the commission said the number had risen to 470. Most of the victims were women, often killed by family members who claimed to defend family honor.
Murders have been reported not only in Lower Dir but also in several other districts of the province, including Peshawar, Upper Dir, Swat and Charsadda.
According to KP police data obtained by The express PAkGazetteIn 2025, 160 cases of honor killings were reported across the province, compared to 159 cases in 2024. About 70 per cent of the victims in the 2024 cases were women.
Data shows that last year 374 people were named in honor killing cases, of which 258 were arrested. However, police said that except in a few cases, many suspects were later released after agreements were reached between the parties.
