3 awarded life sentence in Kohistan video scandal case

BESHAM: A local court has sentenced three people to life imprisonment in the Kohistan ‘honour-killing’ scandal.

A District and Session Court in Besham, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, passed the order Thursday afternoon, sentencing three people in connection to the 2012 murders but acquitting five, reported Geo News.

In 2012, a wedding video emerged from a rural village in Kohistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, showing men and women dancing and singing. After the video was leaked, a local jirga decreed the participants of violating tribal customs and sentenced them to death. Five women were killed by the male members of their tribe. A year later, the three brothers, seen in the video, were also shot dead.

Afzal Kohistani, the surviving brother, had raised the issue and brought the so-called honour killings to the media’s attention. For years thereafter, he campaigned for justice, until the Supreme Court took a suo motu notice of the killings in 2016. Eight men were arrested in connection to the crime.

In May, Kohistani, the whistleblower, was also gunned down. He had repeatedly raised concerns about his life being in danger.