A Pakistani man who allegedly filmed his brother strangling their sister in an honor killing has been arrested amid outrage across the country, police said on Sunday.
Maria Bibi was killed on March 17, allegedly by her brother Muhammad Faisal, in the presence of her father Abdul Sattar near the town of Toba Tek Singh in Punjab province.
A video filmed by another of Bibi’s brothers, Shehbaz, went viral and appears to show Faisal strangling the girl on a bed in their home while their father sits nearby.
At one point during the video, it appears to show Shehbaz saying “Father, tell him to let go” but is rebuffed and his brother continues to strangle the motionless body for more than two minutes.
When Faisal finishes killing his sister, his father offers him a drink of water.
A police official said the police discovered the woman “had not died of natural causes” on March 24.
Sattar and Faisal were immediately arrested while Shehbaz was arrested on Saturday to investigate the extent of his involvement, an officer said. Shehbaz’s wife, who also appears in the video, has also been arrested.
Much of Pakistan’s population follows a strict honor code, with women made to follow male relatives’ control over education, employment, and marriage.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said 316 honor crimes against women were recorded in 2022.
Other cases go unreported as families protect the murderers.
The motive for Bibi’s murder has not yet been established but police said Faisal allegedly caught his sister in a video call with an unknown man on several occasions.
Maryam Nawaz, the chief minister of Punjab province, has designated the incident as “high-profile,” a term used for cases of public interest.
The Pakistan Observer said Faisal confessed to killing his sister and also to raping her before the murder.
