PESHAWAR: Relatives of a married and pregnant woman, allegedly killed in the jurisdiction of Bakot Police Station in Abbottabad district by her in-laws, staged a protest demonstration here on Sunday.
The relatives of the deceased woman staged a protest in Abbottabad city on the day when Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervez Khattak was schedule to address a public meeting there.
A police official of Bakot Police Station, located in the bordering areas of Azad Kashmir, said that the incident occurred at Pakal village near Kohala bridge. On the complaint of the deceased woman’s father, police registered a case against four accused, including a woman.
So far, two persons, including the brother-in-law of the deceased woman, who was the main accused, were arrested. The second arrested person was the father-in-law of the deceased, whereas, her husband and mother-in-law were still at large.
The police official said that, “The brother-in-law had shot the woman which resulted in her death.” Police refused to share further details in connection with the case, thus giving the impression that the angle of honour killing could be involved in the incident.
Hazara deputy inspector general (DIG) claimed that the incident seemed to be an outcome of domestic tensions and hostilities, adding that further investigations were in progress and the final outcome would soon be revealed.
Talking to reporters, the DIG said that it was not true that honour killing was a frequent occurrence in Hazara division, but confirmed that such incidents were rampant in Kohistan region due to decades old traditions and communal systems.
“In this respect, I have talked to religious scholars and elders of the area to play their due role in combating this outdated custom, and I am hopeful that these contacts would bear fruit,” he added.
He further said that police had initiated steps to discourage honour killing in Hazara, and in this respect, station house officers of the police stations concerned would be complainants in such cases in the future. Similarly, the police force had also been directed to arrest culprits as soon as such incidents were reported.
Besides Kohistan, a number of honour killing incidents have also been reported in Mansehra in the past couple of weeks. Human rights activists believed that due to lack of proper action against the culprits, such type of incidents went unreported in different areas of the province.
