MASTUNG: In a tragic incident, a young couple who had contracted a court marriage seven years ago was brutally murdered in Mastung district, Baluchistan. Reports indicate that the woman’s brothers orchestrated the attack, which authorities are calling an ‘honour’ killing.
The incident marks the second disturbing event from Baluchistan within a month. Previously, a viral video showed a group of men forcing a couple out of a vehicle and leading them into a desert, where they were shot at close range following directives from a tribal jirga in Degari.
The murdered couple, identified as Muhammad Shoaib and his wife, were in their late twenties and originally from Panjgur. The Levies officials confirmed that they were shot dead at a local hotel in Lakpass, Mastung, while traveling from Panjgur to Quetta at the invitation of the woman’s brothers, who had supposedly called them for a family gathering.
According to authorities, the woman’s brothers arrived at the hotel and shot the couple before fleeing the scene. The woman was pregnant at the time, and both she and her husband left behind two children aged six and three.
Five of the woman’s brothers have been named in the murder case, which was registered at a Levies station on the complaint of Shoaib’s brother. Authorities are currently conducting raids to apprehend the suspects.
The First Information Report (FIR) states that the woman’s brothers lured the couple under false pretenses before committing the murders.
The Baluchistan government has taken notice of the incident, with a spokesperson confirming that authorities have been instructed to take swift action and arrest those responsible.
This recent honour killing echoes a disturbing trend across Pakistan, where such crimes continue to claim lives. According to the 2024 report ‘Mapping Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in Pakistan’ by the Sustainable Social Development Organisation (SSDO), the country reported 2,238 cases of domestic violence, 547 honour killings, and 5,339 rapes in the year. The conviction rate for these crimes remains alarmingly low, below 2%.
From January to November 2024, 346 individuals fell victim to honour-related violence. Data from the previous two years show a rising trend, with 490 honour killing incidents in 2023 and 590 in 2022.
