Over ‘honour’: Couple gunned down

MANSEHRA: A newly-wed couple was gunned down in the urban limits of Mansehra on Wednesday. According to a police official, unidentified men barged into the house of Shahid, a native of Chilas, Gilgit-Baltistan, in Mohallah Battdariyan and opened fire on 28-year-old Shahid and his 19-year-old wife Hasina. By the time the neighbours went inside, both had died while the assailants had escaped. The official added Shahid and Hasina had eloped from their village and married in court against consent of the girl’s family. They had only recently moved to the neighbourhood in Mansehra. The official said the police have reason to believe the murder is a case of honour killing. Both the bodies were shifted to their native village for burial. Further investigation is under way.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 27^th, 2015.