Viral ‘honour’ killing triggers outrage across Pakistan

A viral video of the ‘honour killing’ of a woman and her lover in a remote part of Pakistan has ignited national outrage, prompting scrutiny of longstanding tribal codes and calls for justice in a country where such killings often pass in silence.

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While hundreds of so-called honour killings are reported in Pakistan each year, often with little public or legal response, the video of a woman and man accused of adultery being taken to the desert by a group of men to be killed has struck a nerve.

The video shows the woman, Bano Bibi, being handed a copy of the Holy Quran by a man identified by police as her brother. ‘Come walk seven steps with me, after that you can shoot me,’ she says, and she walks forward a few feet and stops with her back to the men.

The brother, Jalal Satakzai, then shoots her three times and she collapses. Seconds later he shoots and kills the man, Ehsan Ullah Samalani, whom Bano was accused of having an affair with.

Once the video of the killings in Pakistan's Balochistan province went viral, it brought swift government action and condemnation from politicians, rights groups and clerics. Civil rights lawyer Jibran Nasir said, though, the government's response was more about performance than justice.