Bail of Kohistan whistle blower extended

Suspect claims was not in town when the incident which left three children dead took place

ABBOTTABAD: The Abbottabad bench of the Peshawar High Court on Monday extended the pre-arrest bail of a man accused of setting a house on fire resulting in the death of three children.

The suspect, Afzal Kohistani, rose to prominence after he emerged as a whistle blower in the Kohistan video scandal of 2012. Police had registered an FIR against Kohistani on June 5, on the complaint of Muhammad Sharif who had accused him and five others of setting his house on fire. The blaze had killed Sharif’s three children.

Kohistani was subsequently booked by the police.

However, Kohistani then sought pre-arrest bail from the PHC in the case. The court granted his request.



 

“My life is in danger. Three of my brothers have already been killed by jirga members after I had raised the issue of Kohistan video scandal,” Kohistani said. He denied the allegations levelled against him, stating that he had been living in Abbottabad when the incident took place.

The Kohistan video case made headlines five years ago when a shaky video emerged of five girls singing as two men danced at what was described to be a wedding ceremony in the Kohistan district. The video was followed by reports that the women seen in the video were subsequently killed on the orders of a jirga [tribal court].

The then-chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry took suo moto notice of the alleged honour killings on June 4, 2012, but disposed of the case later that month after a delegation comprising rights activists visited the village in Kohistan and found no evidence of the murder.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 25^th, 2017.