QUETTA: Police have arrested at least 14 suspects for their involvement in the killing of a man and a woman in the Quetta district, who were shot dead on the orders of a tribal jirga ahead of Eidul Azha for so-called honour.

The horrific video of the incident went viral on Sunday, prompting a countrywide outcry. Baloc­histan Police chief Moa­zzam Jah Ansari told Dawn the woman’s family and her tribe members were allegedly involved in the murder as they killed her and her partner for allegedly having a relationship out of wedlock. The man who shot and killed the woman was her brother, the IGP said.

On Sunday, it was reported that the woman and the man had contracted a love marriage, and they were invited by their families on the pretext of a feast, where they were informed about the decision of the jirga.

Separately, a court ordered the police to exh­ume the bodies and conduct an autopsy, while an anti-­t­errorism court granted physical remand of Sardar Sher­baz Satak­zai to police for two days.

Balochistan High Cou­rt Chief Justice Rozi Khan Bareech also took notice of the double murder in Quetta’s Digari area, summoning the province’s top security officials.

According to a statement, the CJ summoned the additional chief secretary for home and the police chief to appear before the court on Tuesday.

‘Justice to be served’

In a press conference at the Chief Minister’s House, CM Sarfraz Bugti said over a dozen people, including tribal elder Sherbaz, had been arrested over the past 24 hours in connection with the incident. “Over a dozen suspects were present at the site of the killing, and police are conducting raids for more arrests,” CM Bugti said, adding that all those involved in this barbaric act would be brought to justice.

“We will make sure that all of them are prosecuted,” CM Bugti said at the presser. The chief minister claimed the man and woman were not married to each other, adding that the woman had five children and the man had four or five children from separate marriages. The CM said “a wrong impression” had been created in other parts of the country that they were killed on the order of a tribal jirga for getting married of their own choice.

“No one has a right, no matter what, to kill someone in such a painful and disgusting way, and then film it on video,” he said, adding, “It is a crime and murder and the people involved in this act must be punished.”

The chief minister said the government had suspended the DSP of the Special Branch for not relaying information about the incident, which occurred three days before Eid. The victims’ families did not inform anyone about the incident, he said, adding that when police and law enforcement agencies went to the village to make arrests, the men fled while the women pelted the police with stones.

The CM said jirgas were part of the tribal society, but it was the job of the government to fulfil its responsibilities in such cases and discourage such decisions.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2025