Kohistan video scandal whistleblower killed

Two boys dancing and five girls seen singing in the cell phone video killed in 2012

ABBOTTABAD: The man who blew the whistle about the honour killing of five Kohistani girls who had been seen dancing in a video was gunned down in Abbottabad on Wednesday evening. Two passersby were also injured in the attack.

Abbottabad police said that Afzal Kohistani was attacked by unidentified armed men near Gami Adda on the Children’s Hospital Road in Abbottabad when he came under a gun attack.
He and the two passersby who were injured were rushed to the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) for treatment.

Kohistani succumbed to his wounds while the other two are under treatment. A few days before his murder, Kohistani had written to the Hazara Deputy Inspector General and Mansehra District Police Officer requesting the provision of police security owing to threats to his life.



It was Kohistani who had in 2012 blown the whistle that the two boys dancing and five girls seen singing and clapping in the grainy cell phone video had been killed on the directives of a local jirga. The news has shocked the nation and had even prompted the Supreme Court to take suo moto notice.

A year later, his three bothers were allegedly killed by the families of the five girls.