Honour killings: Two Pakistani girls killed by cousin after clip of them talking to man surfaces online

ISLAMABAD: Two Pakistani teenaged girls were killed in the name of "honour" after their video clip with a man surfaced a couple of weeks ago in the country's restive northwestern tribal region, a police official said on Sunday.

According to the police, the two girls, aged 16 and 18, were killed by one of their paternal cousins.

Mingling of women with men is strictly prohibited in the country's tribal areas.

The killings took place on May 14 at Shaam Plain Garyom village in North Waziristan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, according to the official.

A case of murder was registered and a manhunt was launched to nab the culprits, the official from the Razmal Police Station said.

The cause was a 52-second video showing a young man talking with three girls, the official said, adding that two of the girls in the video have been killed while the whereabouts of the third one was not known.

Though the third one was said to be alive, her life could be in danger, the police official said.

There was a threat to the life of the man as well.

Though the video is said to have been shot about a year ago, it was uploaded on social media a few weeks back, according to the official.

The police system was introduced in the seven tribal districts after they were merged with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in 2018.

Previously, the area was considered lawless and governed through the draconian Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) of 1901 which were introduced by the British to keep their stronghold on the region.

The FCR was based on the concept of collective responsibility and the entire tribe was punished for any misdemeanor.

Issues likes killings were often settled by local elders as laws of policing and courts were not implemented.