WUNRN
PAKISTAN - 2 TEEN GIRLS SHOT &
KILLED - ALLEGED HONOR KILLING
Two teenage
girls have been shot dead in an apparent honour killing in
The short, grainy film, shot six
months ago, shows the girls smiling and laughing as they run around their home,
breaking into a dance
The girls, aged 15 and 16, are seen running around wearing traditional
dress, covered in green and purple headscarves, outside their simple stone
bungalow in the town of
Local media reports named them as Noor Basra and Noor Sheza, the daughters
of a retired police office.
According to Dawn newspaper, five masked men barged into their house and
opened fire last Sunday. Their mother was killed alongside them.
The report said police believed the crime was motivated by a video clip
circulated on mobile phones.
The short, grainy film, shot six months ago, shows the girls smiling and
laughing as they run around their home, breaking into a dance.
An initial police investigation, quoted by Dawn, suggested the girls' stepbrother,
named as Khutore, considered the video an "assault on the honour of his
family" and planned and carried out the attack.
However, police officers have also warned against jumping to conclusions
before the full investigation is complete. They say they are also examining
whether a property dispute or an audio clip – in which the girls are apparently
heard talking to an unknown man – might be responsible.
Honour killings remain a blight of rural, conservative areas of Pakistan where they are sometimes ordered
by tribal councils.
Campaigners say more than 900 women were killed in the country last year
for bringing shame on their families – many killed by brothers or fathers after
being accused of illicit relationships.
Five women and two men were reported killed in the same region after
footage emerged of them singing and dancing together at a wedding. However,
subsequent investigations have failed to determine what happened.