Residents in Torghar protest killing of woman: DPO suspends staff of police station

MANSEHRA: The residents of Dor Mera tehsil in Torghar blocked a main road to traffic on Thursday to protest the killing of a woman under the pretext of honour.

“This woman, who was allegedly declared perverted by her family after she eloped with a local man, was killed on the road. The police failed to protect her and arrived to collect her body three hours later,” one of the protesters told reporters.

According to locals, the 23-year-old woman was on her way to a rented house when two armed men stated to be her brothers confronted her, fired indiscriminately and killed her on the spot.

Her body reportedly remained on the road for over two hours before being taken to a nearby health facility.The protesters blocked the Judbah-Thakot Road for around two hours demanding punitive action against personnel deployed at the Dor Mera Police Station and its local posts, located about 5 km away.

“Such an act is against our culture and traditions that a woman was killed on the road,” said one of the protesters.The road was eventually reopened by protesters after the District Police Officer Syed Mukhtar Shah rushed to the spot and assured to take action against the police personnel stationed at the local police post. The DPO later in the day suspended the entire staff of the Dor Mera Police Station.The slain woman had reportedly eloped with a local man from a village in Shangla. However, he had left for Saudi Arabia for employment without marrying her.