Police arrest four masterminds of Kohistan video scandal
DPO says jirga leader Maulvi Javed arrested along with Maulvi Noorul Haq, Mausam Khan and Baseer.
DPO says jirga leader Maulvi Javed arrested with Maulvi Noorul Haq, Mausam Khan and Baseer. PHOTO: FILE
Police arrested four suspects, who reportedly masterminded the Kohistan video scandal, from Hassan Abdal area of Punjab, Express News reported Monday.
District Police Officer (DPO) Akbar Ali said that the suspects – namely Maulvi Javed, Maulvi Noorul Haq, Mausam Khan and Baseer – were the masterminds of the video scandal.
DPO Ali said that Maulvi Javed, the head of the jirga, had condemned to death five girls of the Azadkhel tribe and two boys of the Salehkhel tribe for clapping and singing at a local wedding held in March 2012. Such mingling with the opposite gender was said to go against the tribal customs of the area.
On January 4, 2013, Afzal Kohistani, a native of Kohistan district in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, told The Express Tribune that his three brothers Shah Faisal, Safiud Din and Sher Wali were killed during an attack by over a dozen armed men from the Azadkhel tribe.
Afzal was the same person who had approached local media agencies with the information that the jirga had ordered the killings.
The Supreme Court had also taken suo motu notice and had sent a fact-finding mission to the area on June 4, 2012 that reported back that the women were alive.
When the commission met Maulvi Javed, the head of the jirga, it was informed that no killings had taken place. Following this finding, the case was abruptly disposed of.
However, Kohistani maintained that jirga authorities presented similar-looking girls to the commission which deluded court authorities into believing that the girls were alive.
District Police Officer (DPO) Akbar Ali said that the suspects – namely Maulvi Javed, Maulvi Noorul Haq, Mausam Khan and Baseer – were the masterminds of the video scandal.
DPO Ali said that Maulvi Javed, the head of the jirga, had condemned to death five girls of the Azadkhel tribe and two boys of the Salehkhel tribe for clapping and singing at a local wedding held in March 2012. Such mingling with the opposite gender was said to go against the tribal customs of the area.
On January 4, 2013, Afzal Kohistani, a native of Kohistan district in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, told The Express Tribune that his three brothers Shah Faisal, Safiud Din and Sher Wali were killed during an attack by over a dozen armed men from the Azadkhel tribe.
Afzal was the same person who had approached local media agencies with the information that the jirga had ordered the killings.
The Supreme Court had also taken suo motu notice and had sent a fact-finding mission to the area on June 4, 2012 that reported back that the women were alive.
When the commission met Maulvi Javed, the head of the jirga, it was informed that no killings had taken place. Following this finding, the case was abruptly disposed of.
However, Kohistani maintained that jirga authorities presented similar-looking girls to the commission which deluded court authorities into believing that the girls were alive.