Seven charged for honour-killing

Police say charge-sheet has already been submitted to the relevant anti-terrorism court to initiate a proper trial

KARACHI:

Police have charged seven suspects under the anti-terrorism law for the honour-killing of two women in Shikarpur, officials informed the Supreme Court (SC) on Friday.

A two-member bench, headed by chief justice Nasirul Mulk, was hearing the suo motu case relating to the murder of two women on the orders of a jirga that was reportedly presided over by Pakistan Muslim League - Functional MNA Ghous Bux Mahar to settle an old dispute with the rival Jagirani tribe.

The news reports, based on which the suo motu proceedings were initiated last March, alleged that two women of the Mahar tribe were killed by their parents for having illicit relations with men of the Jagirani tribe. The Jagiranis were fined a total of Rs2.4m for ‘kidnapping’ and ‘having illicit relations’ with the women. Both the parties accepted the decision but no one was penalised for murdering the women.

Read: Honour killing: Man sentenced to life imprisonment

During Friday’s proceedings, the police authorities informed the court that seven suspects, four of whom were in police custody while the other three had obtained pre-arrest bail from court, had been charged under the anti-terrorism law for the double murder.

They said the charge-sheet had already been submitted to the relevant anti-terrorism court to initiate a proper trial.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 2^nd, 2015.