QUETTA:
At least 14 suspects have been arrested for their alleged participation in the brutal public murder of a man and a woman in Baluchistan, authorities said on Monday, a day after a video of the execution became viral on social networks.
Baluchistan’s prime minister Sarfraz Bugti confirmed the arrests of 11 people in a statement and then told a press conference that everyone involved would be taken before justice. He assured that the action would be taken in accordance with the law.
The news of the arrests occurred when the president of the Superior Court of Baluchistan (BHC), Rozi Khan Barrech, took a notice of suo motu of the murders and summoned the additional main secretary (home) and the inspector (IG) of the police to appear before the court and provide a report on the case on Tuesday (today).
The case is being investigated by the SERIOUS CRIMES INVESTIGATION Wing (SCIW), according to the Police. Citing local police officers, Reuters reported that the number of people arrested increased to 14.
The investigation officer Naveed Akhtar declared that he and his team arrived in Sanjidi, a town in Dagari on the outskirts of Quetta, where they confirmed that the double murder had occurred three days before Eidul Azha.
The victims, identified as Bano Bibi and Ihsanullah, were the same individuals seen in the viral video. IG Moazzam Jah Ansari told Reuters that the man who shot and killed the woman was her brother, acting on behalf of her family and tribe.
According to the FIR, eight suspects were appointed directly, while another 15 remain unidentified. The researchers visited the Degari area, collected crucial forensic evidence and registered statements by local and elderly residents.
A female police surgeon, part of the team, confirmed that the woman had suffered seven gunshot wounds. A defendant, Sardar Sher Baz Satakzai, the head of the tribe who had ordered the murder, was produced in court. The court ordered the police to exhume the bodies for an autopsy.
The post -mortem report of the victims has now been made public, confirming that both were triggered at a short distance in an act of brutal and calculated violence.
The Pakistani were surprised on Sunday after a video appeared on the social networks shown by the brutal murders carried out in front of the spectators. The footage caused national outrage and called generalized to justice. Later, the authorities said the video was recorded around Eidul Azha, which was held in June.
The video shows people in a desert, and some trucks and SUVs in which they had apparently been driven there. The woman receives a copy of the Qur’an and then tells a man: “Come and walk seven steps with me, after that you can shoot me.” The man follows her in some steps.
A local police officer told Reuters that the woman did not cry or look for mercy. “He is only allowed to shoot me. Nothing more than that,” says the woman in the Brahui regional language, translated into reuters by the official. It was not clear to what he meant to “nothing more than that.”
The man, who had followed her, then pointed a gun as she turned her back on the shooter. The woman, wrapped in a chal, stayed still when they shot. He stayed after two shots, delivered from short distance, falling to the ground after the third shot.
That is followed by a series of shots. Then, the footage shows a bloody man lying on the ground, near the woman’s body. Then, men are shooting both bodies. According to the AFP report, the man first shot the woman and then shot the man.
“We have arrested more than a dozen men for their participation in the incident,” said a senior police officer to the AFP on anonymity. The official said that the arrested included a cousin of the woman and the old tribal who directed the jirga who ordered the murders.
Prime Minister Bugti condemned the murders as completely inhuman. “A case has been registered against all those involved … and they will be prosecuted,” he said. “Not even society allows this [killing] Not even the government. The Government will not show any clemency to the defendant. “
There were reports that the two were shot dead for marrying on their own, which was disapproved by their families. However, the prime minister said they were not married together, and added that both had children, a five -year -old mother and six -year -old father, of their previous marriages.
“This incident has gone viral on social networks and people want to know the truth. There are reports that circulate on social networks that the deceased were a newly married couple, but [in fact] The two were not in a marriage relationship, “he said.
“The woman who was killed in the incident has five children and her husband’s name is Noor. The deceased man was also married and had six children,” said the prime minister, added that both were brutally murdered, which was unacceptable in any way.
The most worrying thing about this case, the prime minister told journalists, was that no one was ready to register a first information report (FIR) with the police. “The parents and children of the deceased were present, but so far FIR has been registered,” he added.
Answering a question, Bugti said that no one obtained this video from abroad, rather, was published by the murderers themselves. He said that in this era of social networks, where news spreads without research, such incidents should be investigated before forming an opinion.
The main minister acknowledged that the Jirga tribal system still prevailed. “There is no doubt that we are part of a society where the Jirga system is still in its place. Somewhere or another we are seeing under the influence of this system,” he said, added that the government would take measures against these jirgas.
Meanwhile, there was a case of murder under section 302 of the Pakistan Criminal Code (PPC) and the relevant sections of the Anti -Terror Law (ATA). The FIGUE declared that the victims were declared as “Karo-Kari”, a term used for ‘honor murders’ in a tribal jirga directed by the tribal Elder Sardar Sherbaz Khan Satakzai.
After Jirga’s verdict, they were taken to vehicles to a remote area where they were shot dead. The applicant of the case said that the horrible act was filmed and distributed online, causing fear and panic among the public, he added.
(With agencies inputs)
