Posted Video of Sister's 'Honor Killing' in Pakistan on SNS

Killed after multiple video calls with an unidentified man
Victim's father also witnessed the murder scene nearby

Individuals who filmed the so-called 'honor killing' of a woman by her own brother in Pakistan and then posted the footage on social media have been arrested by the police.

On the 31st of last month (local time), Pakistani daily Dawn and AFP reported that Maria Bibi (22, female), who lived in the village of Toba Tek Singh in Punjab province, Pakistan, was strangled to death by her brother Muhammad Faisal inside their family home on the 17th of last month. At the time of the incident, her father Abdul Sattar was watching the scene nearby, and another brother, Shehbaz, filmed the killing.

The video shows Faisal strangling Maria Bibi’s neck on the bed while her father Sattar watches. Shehbaz’s voice can also be heard saying, "Father, please tell him to let go now," but Faisal does not stop and continues. After the incident, Sattar even offered Faisal some water to drink. Shehbaz then posted the video on social media, and it quickly spread, shocking many netizens who saw it. Local police launched an investigation and arrested Bibi’s family members as suspects on the 30th of last month. The family claimed that Bibi died of natural causes, but the police did not accept this.

A Pakistani man is reading the Quran in an Islamic holy site. [Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

The police are not certain about the motive for the killing, but based on Faisal’s statement during the investigation that "Bibi was seen making several video calls with an unidentified man," they are treating the case as an honor killing.

As the case became known, there has been a growing outcry online condemning it as a 'horrific act.' One netizen on X (formerly Twitter) said, "The family who committed the murder should be publicly punished." Another posted a sarcastic comment, saying, "This is how Islam in Pakistan is known worldwide," and "It shows how much they love Islam."

Honor killing refers to the murder of a female family member by relatives for allegedly tarnishing the family’s honor, a practice seen in some Islamic countries. Pakistan is known to have the highest number of honor killings per capita as of 2018. The Pakistan Human Rights Commission (HRCP) reported 316 honor killings in Pakistan in 2022. However, many cases are believed to be underreported as families often conceal the murders. The Pakistani government strengthened penalties for honor killings in 2016, increasing sentences to 'at least 25 years in prison,' but the practice remains difficult to eradicate.

Last year in Pakistan, a father killed his teenage daughter after believing, based on a manipulated video, that she was dancing with boys. On November 27th last year, foreign media including the Times of India reported that police in Kohistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, northwest Pakistan, arrested a man identified as A on suspicion of murder. A is accused of shooting his 16-year-old daughter multiple times at their home on November 24th last year. He committed the crime after seeing a video of his daughter dancing with boys along with another female friend. The video had been posted on social media four days before the incident. A acted on orders from a council of village elders who commanded the killing of the two girls in the video. However, investigations revealed that the video was fabricated. Police took protective measures for A’s daughter’s friend appearing in the video and arrested the elders who ordered the murder.