Pak: Lifer for 3 in Kohistan honour killing case

A local court in Pakistan on Thursday awarded life imprisonment to three men in connection with the 2012 Kohistan honour killing case, where seven people, including three women were killed, after a video of them dancing had gone viral.

District and Sessions Judge Safiullah Jan of Kolai-Palas Kohistan announced the verdict to the three men -- Mohammad Umar Khan, Saeer and Sabir -- for killing three women in the name of "honour".

In the video that had gone viral in 2012, four women were seen clapping and singing and two boys dancing in the ultra-conservative Kohistan district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. According to the locals, the said people had brought "dishonour" to the tribals and violated tribal customs, The Dawn reported.

After the video was leaked, the three women were killed on the orders of a 'jirga' (tribal council).

The three men who were awarded life sentence are relatives of the murdered women. They were arrested by Mansehra police last year.

During the hearing, the trio had confessed to the crime following which the court awarded life imprisonment to them.

In the same hearing, five other accused were acquitted of the charges against them.

The video was filmed at the residence of a man called Afzal Kohistani, who raised the matter publicly after his three brothers were killed in Palas Kohistan.

For years, Afzal fought for justice and tried to bring the perpetrators to book until he was shot dead in Abbottabad in March this year.

Afzal's younger brother, Bin Yasir, one of the two men seen dancing in the video, continued to fight the case on his behalf and appeared in all court hearings.

On three occasions, the matter was taken up by Pakistan's Supreme Court.