A Pakistani man who allegedly filmed his brother strangling their sister to death has been arrested in the latest “honor killing This outraged the country, police said on Sunday.
Maria Bibi, 22, was killed on the night of March 17, apparently by her brother Muhammad Faisal and in the presence of her father Abdul Sattar, near the town of Toba Tek Singh in the east-central Punjab province. .
A video filmed by the woman’s other brother, Shehbaz, and which went viral, appears to show Faisal strangling the girl on a bed in the family home while their father sat nearby.
At one point, the video appears to show Shehbaz saying “Father, tell him to let go,” but is brushed off as his brother continues to strangle the motionless body for more than two minutes.
When Faisal is finished, his father offers him water to drink.
“The police discovered on March 24 that the young girl had not died of natural causes. We filed a complaint and became complainants ourselves,” Ata Ullah, an official with the police, told AFP by telephone. Toba Tek Singh Police.
Sattar and Faisal were immediately arrested, while Shehbaz was arrested on Saturday evening to ascertain the extent of his involvement, the officer said.
This murder has all the characteristics of an “honor” killing, he added. Shehbaz’s wife, who also appears in the video, was also arrested.
Much of Pakistani society operates under a strict code of “honor,” in which women are beholden to their male relatives when it comes to choices in education, employment and marriage.
AAMIR QURESHI/AFP via Getty Images
Hundreds of women are killed every year by men in Pakistan for allegedly violating this code.
According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, 384 “honor killings” were reported in 2022 alone.
But many cases go unreported because families tend to protect the killers, often men.
The motive for Maria Bibi’s murder has not yet been established.
Police said Faisal, the killer, allegedly caught his sister talking repeatedly during a video call with a stranger.
The chief minister of Punjab province, Maryam Nawaz, called the case “high profile”, a term used for cases of public interest, although the legal system still allows men to murder women freely. impunity.
In December, authorities arrested four people allegedly killed an 18 year old woman in the alleged name of “honor” after a photo of her sitting with a boyfriend went viral on social media, police said Thursday. Police said the photo was doctored and posted on fake social media accounts.
In 2022, the BBC reported that the brother of a social media star had been acquitted of her murder. He was sentenced to life in prison after confessing to the 2016 murder, saying it was because the star had shamed the family.
Also in 2022, a Pakistani was stopped after being accused of murdering his 18-year-old daughter in Italy after she allegedly refused an arranged marriage.
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