QUETTA: A man and a woman were stoned to death in a village in Loralai district on Sunday after a cleric issued a fatwa against them, sources said.

A Levies Force official, Abdul Latif Jogezai, said the incident took place in Manzkai village early in the morning. “The people of the village stoned to death the man and the woman who were not married to each other. Rather, they were married to other people,” he said. He said the two were killed on suspicion of having illicit relations. No funeral prayers were offered for them.

The slain man, Daraz Khan, was buried in Katoti area and the woman in her village.

After hearing about the incident, personnel of the Levies Force reached Manzkai village and arrested the cleric who had issued the fatwa and six of the men who stoned the couple to death, Mr Jogezai said.

He said a case had been registered against the people of the village. Most of the residents fled from the village to avoid arrest, he added.