A man and woman, both reported to in their twenties, were murdered in another instance of the so-called ‘honour killing’ in a village of Sadiqabad sub-district Thursday.

The first information report (FIR), filed at the Kot Sabzal police station, was registered on the complaint of the Mushtaq Ahmed, the brother of the male victim identified as Sakhawat. It includes sections 302 (murder), 34 (common intention), and 311 (intentional wrongdoing) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

In the FIR, the complaint has accused the female victim’s uncle and cousins of carrying out the murder over suspicions that the two were involved.

It stated that the complaint, who is a barber, was visiting his brother in the Aalo village on the suburbs of Sadiqabad in Rahim Yar Khan district where they had rented land for cotton cultivation.

While they were busy with the field, Sakhawat went for a walk. During this, the FIR added, the complaint and his friends saw some people taking away Sakhawat by force.

In the FIR, they are identified as Fateh Muhammad along with his sons Zahoor Ahmed and Saeed Ahmed, and another Muhammad Asghar.

It added that the complainant, along with his other brother Liaquat Ali and nephew Ali Asghar, went to help Sakhawat.

It said that Sakhawat was tied up, with the attackers taking turns in hitting him with an axe.

They then attacked the woman, who was Fateh Muhammad’s niece. It said that Muhammad hit his niece in the head with the same axe. After that, the two bodies were dumped in the bathroom.

By then, the complaint had raised a hue and cry. As people gathered, the accused fled the scene.

Mushtaq said that his brother was killed unjustly. “They were killed based on a suspicion,” he said.

Mushtaq said that his brother was actualyl 17, saying that fictitious age was provided for the CNIC. He said the girl was also a teenager.

The police have since arrested the girl’s uncle and is looking for the other accused.

The girl was an orphan and one of three siblings living with her mother. One brother has a physical disability while the other was in Chaman for work.

Mushtaq, the male victim’s brother, said that his brother had been living in the village for six months due to his cotton crop. “He had no issues with anyone.”

Pakistan has a long history of honour killings, with Punjab police alone reporting 197 cases this year. Of those, 13 were reported from Rahim Yar Khan district.