Three teenage girls who planned to defy their families and marry men of their choice were buried alive in “honour killings”. Now the Pakistani Government has been forced to order an inquiry, six weeks after the crimes.

The girls were taken from their remote village, Baba Kot, in southwestern Balochistan, to a deserted area where they were badly tortured before being pushed into a ditch and covered with sand and stones. One was named as Fauzia Bibi, 18, but the other two – thought to be aged 14 and 16 – were not identified.

When two older women – Jannat Bibi, 38, Fauzia’s aunt, and Fatima Bibi, 45, the mother of another girl – tried to protect the teenagers they were also buried alive. The assailants then fired into the air to deter anyone from approaching the scene.

Details of incident, which allegedly took place on July 13, were recently revealed by a human rights organisation. The deaths sparked protests nationwide and have led to angry scenes in parliament over accusations of an official cover-up.

Police have arrested six people, including the fathers and some of the brothers of the girls, who were allegedly involved in the murders. But human-rights activists say authorities are protecting a local politician said to have been involved in the incident.

The man, the younger brother of a minister in Balochistan’s provincial government and a member of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), reportedly abducted the girls at gun-point and took them away in a vehicle bearing a government registration plate. He was also allegedly involved in beating the girls. He and his brother deny all involvement.

According to an initial postmortem examination of two of the victims the girls had their skulls smashed before being buried in the 2ft-deep ditch.

“Honour killings” are fairly common in Balochistan’s tribal areas, but burying women alive is unprecedented. Critics of the Government say it is trying to ignore the issue so as not to upset Balochistan voters before presidential elections on Saturday.

The code of death

— The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan reported 636 honour killings in 2007. At least 61 victims were minors

— According to official data presented in Pakistan’s Senate, more than 4,000 people were killed during the last six years in the name of family honour

— In January last year a couple in Donga Bonga on the Indian border were tied to a tree and publicly clubbed and stoned to death on charges of adultery. They were both in their forties. Among the perpetrators were the woman’s three brothers

— In February last year two girls from Allah Bux Brohi were dragged through the streets and hacked to death by their uncles. Farida and Hamida, 18 and 22, were accused of dishonouring the family by being in the company of men

Source: hrcp-web.org; Amnesty International; Times archives

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