Shocking Video Captures Execution of Woman in ‘Honor Killing’ in Balochistan

Pakistani authorities have arrested at least 11 suspects after a young couple was executed in broad daylight in Balochistan—murdered on the orders of a tribal elder for defying rigid social rules around relationships. The shocking video of the killing, now viral on social media, exposes a brutal reality: in Pakistan and across much of Central and South Asia, women’s lives are still routinely sacrificed to a deadly code of “honor.”

The footage shows the woman walking calmly as a man follows, gun in hand. Her last words, in the local Brahvi language, plead for a measure of mercy: “You are only allowed to fire at me, nothing else.” Seconds later, she collapses under a barrage of bullets.

In parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan, punishments for breaching ‘honor’ are often decided by jirgas—traditional councils of male elders that hold significant local authority, passing verdicts on social and family matters without formal legal oversight.

“Jirgas are male assemblies that decide the fate of women they say have ‘dishonored’ them. Anything a woman does can be deemed dishonorable, like making her own choices,” said Manahil, a 24-year-old women’s rights activist from Pakistan whose cousin was killed in an ‘honor’ killing. “No matter where in Pakistan, it’s always women who suffer, punished by a culture that enables violence and blames the victims. I’ve seen this happen in my own family. Every day, we lose women and girls, and I don't know when enough is ever enough.”

This is not an isolated incident—it is part of a staggering pattern of violence targeting women and girls who dare to exercise basic freedoms: to choose their partners, to marry by choice, or to break from oppressive gender roles. Annually, the United Nations estimates that roughly 5,000 women and girls worldwide are killed in so-called “honor killings.” However, this figure is widely believed to be an underestimation. In Pakistan, for example, rights groups estimate that about 1,000 women are murdered annually from honor-related violence, even though official reports documented only 470 cases in 2021.

Despite legal reforms making honor killings punishable by life imprisonment, the enforcement gap remains vast. Perpetrators operate in a culture that frequently condones murder as a form of social control, where family “honor” is tied to policing women’s bodies and choices.

The recent murders of high-profile women like social media star Qandeel Baloch and teenage TikTok influencer Sana Yousaf sparked outrage but failed to stem the tide of bloodshed.

Balochistan’s Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti described the latest murders as “intolerable” and an assault on human dignity. But words alone are not enough. Until Pakistan dismantles the cultural and legal systems that protect killers under the guise of “honor,” women will continue to die violently—often in public, often with impunity.

“This happens every day to women; the ones we hear about are sadly just the tip of the iceberg. I cannot even imagine the number of honor killings that go unreported,” Manahil told More to Her Story. “I don’t think women should have to be brave for just choosing to live on their own terms.”