Kohistan video 5 women killed, officials deny locals’ claim

Five women in Kohistan, four of whom were filmed ‘singing and dancing’ with men at a wedding party, were killed on May 30 after a tribal jirga ordered their execution, claimed Muhammad Afzal brother of the two people who filmed the video and uploaded it on the internet. Commissioner Hazara Khalid Umarzai and Provincial Minister for Social Welfare Sitara Ayaz denied that the women were killed and said they were alive and safe at their homes. Police officials in the area also denied the incident. Afzal claimed that the fifth girl, sister of one of the women filmed, was also killed on suspicion. Police had filed an FIR against the two brothers, Bin Yasir and Gul Nazar, for filming these four women and putting the video online. According to Afzal, the women were kept in captivity for a month and were tortured by pouring boiling water on their bodies before they were killed. The jirga had also ordered the execution of the two brothers along with the four women. However, the men had fled the area.—Agencies