Over ‘honour’: Two seminary teachers gunned down in Mansehra

Qari Nisar Ahmad, Gulfeem Bibi shot dead by latter’s brother

MANSEHRA: At least two seminary teachers were gunned down in a suspected case of honour killing in a village in Oghi, Mansehra on Thursday.

An Oghi police officer told The Express Tribune the deceased have been identified as Qari Nisar Ahmad and Gulfeem Bibi. They were allegedly murdered by Shakirullah, Gulfeem Bibi’s brother.

“Shakirullah suspected they were having an affair,” he added. According to the policeman, Azizullah, Ahmad’s older brother, was a seminary teacher in Battagram district.



“Thursday morning, 26-year-old Gulfeem Bibi, who was a widow and also worked at the seminary, called Ahmad on his landline and asked him to visit her at once,” the official said. “He arrived at Gulfeem Bibi’s house and both of them had a long discussion.”

As per the police official, Shakirullah noticed this and suspected they were having an affair. “He pulled out an AK-47 rifle and opened fire at them,” he said. “Both of them died on the spot.”

A police official told The Express Tribune Shakirullah has been arrested.

Cycle of violence

Several cases of honour killing have been reported from across Hazara over the last few weeks.

On March 18, a man gunned down his brother’s 22-year-old wife and her 17-year-old sister for tainting the family’s reputation in Sherabad village in Mansehra.



In a separate incident, a brother killed his sister in Jaral village in Abbottabad over suspicion of being romantically involved with a boy from the same village.

On March 24, a father gunned down his daughter for marrying a man of her choice and “bringing dishonour to the family” in Khanpur, Haripur.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 1^st,  2016.