‘Baloch couple lived together without marriage for 4 months before murder’

QUETTA: The latest case of honor killing has emerged from Degari area of Balochistan, where a Baloch woman and a man were brutally murdered for allegedly living together for four months without marriage.

The incident raised serious concerns about tribal justice and the absence of law enforcement agencies in the region.

A few days after reporting on the case, senior journalist Irshad Bhatti said that the victims, Bano and Ehsan, belonged to the Satakzai and Samalani tribes. Both were Baloch and spoke the Brahui language. Bano, a mother of five, had returned to her first husband after living with Ehsan for four months. The man is around 50 years old and has five children.

Bhatti, citing his sources, said that Ehsan went into hiding after the woman returned to her first husband. As soon as he returned, Bano’s family members, who considered it an insult to their tribe, became enraged and allegedly prepared for a revenge killing. Ehsan sought refuge with the Satakzai tribal chief, who initially offered protection but later caved in to pressure from the woman’s relatives.

A tribal jirga was reportedly held, during which it was decided that both Bano and Ehsan should be hanged. Each of them was accused of violating tribal and cultural norms by living together without marriage.

Bano was shot seven times, including in the head, while Ehsan was shot nine times in the chest and abdomen. The woman was allegedly killed by her own family members, including her brothers, uncle, nephew and cousin. “It was a mass execution under tribal orders,” Bhatti said.

No member of the community came forward to file a First Information Report (FIR), leaving the state as the sole complainant in the case. When the police tried to arrest the suspects, they reportedly faced resistance from women belonging to both tribes, who pelted stones at law enforcement agencies and expressed support for the killings.