A journalist was shot dead at her home in the Turbat area of Balochistan’s Kech district on Saturday night allegedly by her husband, police said.
This is the latest incident in a series of gruesome examples of domestic violence in Pakistan.
The victim, Shaheena Shaheen, was a local PTV anchor and editor of a local magazine. She was also a fine arts student at the University of Baluchistan. It is believed that her husband killed Shaheen because she was becoming famous in her area, a conservative part of Baluchistan.
In a report compiled in 2018, it was estimated that 50 people, including 30 women, had been killed in the name of honor in Baluchistan.
The report was compiled by The Aurat Foundation, a non-governmental organization that works for the protection of women’s rights and was shared with the public at a press conference in Quetta, the provincial capital.
According to program officer Muhammad Ashfaq Mengal, the victims were mostly killed by close relatives, including husbands, brothers and other relatives in the name of so-called honor and petty family disputes.
This also appears to be the case behind Shaheen’s death. “The killing was the result of domestic violence,” Kech Police Superintendent Najeebullah Pandrani said, adding that police were investigating the killing.
He said no arrests had been made so far. However, Shaheen’s family filed a first information report (FIR) against her husband, whom she married five months ago. Her body was taken to her residence for burial, police said.
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