Girl, boy killed for ‘honour’, houses torched in Tirah Valley

ISLAMABAD: A young girl and a boy were killed in Khyber district’s Tirah Valley in what locals described as an ‘honour’ killing, after a video of them surfaced on social media, residents said on Wednesday.

According to locals, the two were accused of recording an ‘indecent’ conversation on WhatsApp, which was later uploaded online.

They were also accused of meeting in Haider Kandaw village of Bro Qambarkhel, where the alleged video was filmed. The incident took place on September 16.

Residents told reporters that two other people — a man and a woman — have also been charged in connection with the video.

Six suspects sent to jail in Rawalpindi ‘honour killing’ case

Tribal elders in Bar Qambarkhel said all four individuals were related to one another. Locals warned that the lives of the other two remain in danger.

A local jirga, headed by elders Zahir Shah Afridi and Malik Kamaluddin, conducted an inquiry and ordered the burning of the accused families’ houses. Relatives of the girl and boy later killed them on September 16.

Tribal elders defended the punitive measures, saying the accused had violated long-standing Afridi tribal values. They claimed the decision to punish was taken after a detailed review of the matter.

The accused had gone into hiding after the video began circulating on social media, fearing reprisal.

Malik Kamaluddin Afridi said the families of the two had asked elders to kill them, but the jirga refused, stating it had no authority to take lives. He added that burning down houses was considered a traditional punishment among Afridis.

Honour killing: man kills wife, another man in Gilgit-Baltistan

Another elder, Malik Zahir Shah Afridi, also insisted the jirga had not ordered the killings, and that the victims were killed by their own families.

Haider Kandaw village, located about 35 kilometres from Tirah Maidan police station, is outside the full control of government authorities, with militant presence also reported in the area.

So far, the Tirah and Khyber district police have not issued any statement about registering a case.

Police spokesman Zaheer Afridi told local reporters he had no knowledge of the incident.

Lawyers, political activists and civil society groups in Khyber district strongly condemned the killings and the burning of houses, calling such acts illegal, inhumane and a gross violation of rights.

They also criticised the practice of inciting family members against their own relatives, terming it a heinous and degrading act.