Tribal Couple Stoned to Death

Asif Hassan—AFP

Eight people arrested after cleric in Balochistan ordered stoning of couple accused of having extramarital affair.

A tribal couple in southwest Pakistan was stoned to death, allegedly on the orders of a local cleric after being accused of having an extramarital affair, according to local officials.

Eight people have been arrested, including the cleric, for the suspected murders in the village of Manzkai, Balochistan.

“Locals have told the authorities that the man and woman were stoned to death. Some people are also saying that they were stoned and later shot,” said senior local administration official Zulfiqar Durrani. He said that witnesses have told authorities that the man and woman, both from a nomadic tribe and married to other people, were found guilty of “illicit relations.”

“The bodies of the executed man and woman will be exhumed and a post mortem will be performed to ascertain how they were killed,” Durrani said.

Local tribal police official Abdul Latif Kakar confirmed the stoning, but cautioned that the full picture would emerge only once investigations are completed.

Hundreds of people are killed around Pakistan each year in the name of defending family “honor,” but stonings are extremely rare.