GILGIT, June 24: A family video showing two teenage girls enjoying rain in their house led to their murder in Chilas on Sunday night. Their mother was also gunned down allegedly by her stepson and his four friends.

Five masked men barged into the house of retired police officer Rehmat Nabi and started firing, killing his wife and daughters, aged 15 and 16.

According to police, the crime was motivated by a video clip circulated on mobile phones and showing the girls overjoyed by rain in the lawn of their bungalow.

The video, recorded six months ago, was circulated in the area four months later probably after a relative sent it to his friends.

Police believed that the girls’ stepbrother Khutore took it as an “assault on the honour of his family” and tried to “restore the family’s honour” by killing the girls.

Khutore escaped when police tried to get in touch with him for investigation. But, his four friends were arrested and, according to a senior police official, they have confessed to the crime. A case has been registered against the five.

Opinion

Editorial

Exit strategy
Updated 18 Mar, 2026

Exit strategy

MOST members of the international community, particularly states in the greater Middle East, are gravely concerned...
Unsafe trains
18 Mar, 2026

Unsafe trains

SUNDAY’S accident involving the Shalimar Express has once again brought into sharp focus the deep structural and...
Disappointment in Dhaka
18 Mar, 2026

Disappointment in Dhaka

FOR a side looking for lift-off after a disappointing T20 World Cup, it was despair for Shaheen Shah Afridi’s ...
Missing in action
17 Mar, 2026

Missing in action

NOT exactly known for playing a proactive role in protecting the interests of Muslim nations and populations...
Risk to stability
Updated 17 Mar, 2026

Risk to stability

THE risks to Pakistan’s fragile economic recovery from the US-Israel war on Iran cannot be dismissed. Yet the...
Enrolment push
17 Mar, 2026

Enrolment push

THE federal government has embarked upon the welcome initiative to enrol 25,000 out-of-school children in Islamabad...