Shakeeb Asrar

USA TODAY

Pakistan police arrested members of a tribal council Thursday for killing a teenage girl for helping a couple elope.

The girl was drugged, placed unconscious in a van and set ablaze last week in a village outside Islamabad, according to Reuters. The tribal council, known as jirga, had ordered the "honor killing" as punishment for damaging the village’s reputation by letting the couple escape.



A district police officer said 13 members of the council, including the deceased’s mother, were arrested and will be tried by an Anti-Terrorism Court, reported local newspaper Dawn. The police recommended an “exemplary punishment” for the accused.

Jirgas are traditional assemblies of local leaders, common in northwest Pakistan, called to make decisions based on consensus. Their proclamations carry no legal standing in Pakistani law.

"Honor killings" are carried out against those who are believed to have brought dishonor upon the family or the local community. It is commonly targeted at women and takes thousands of lives every year across the world, mostly in parts of Middle East and South Asia.

Oscar-winning film casts light on honor killings in Pakistan

Acclaimed Pakistani filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy won an Oscar in February for a documentary on "honor killing" in Pakistan. A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness follows the story of an "honor killing" survivor in her fight against her attackers.

Following the award, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif vowed to eliminate "honor killings" from the country by introducing strict laws against the transgressors.

“The so called ‘honor killing’ is deeply rooted in the belief that women are a commodity or property representative of family honor, objects that can be traded or damaged (for family’s reputation),” said Tarah Demant, senior director of identity and discrimination unit at Amnesty International.

Demant applauded the arrest of people accused of the murder, calling it a “really critical first step.” She said to eradicate these violent acts the culture of treating women as inferior to men needs to change.

“This is not specifically a Pakistani problem. This is a global-level problem,” she said. “It’s part of the global culture of violence against women.”