Commission records statements of four women | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

Commission records statements of four women

MANSEHRA: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain on Saturday said the fact-finding commission constituted by the Supreme Court had recorded the statements of the four women who had appeared in a controversial video clip.

Recently, a video in which four women were seen clapping as two men danced generated controversy and the Supreme Court took suo moto notice of media reports that the women were killed on the orders of a jirga. The provincial government had denied these reports.

Talking to reporters in Pattan in Kohistan district after a visit to the village of the women, KP information minister said on Saturday that one of the women could not appear before the commission because of her pregnancy.

However, one of the members of the commission, Farzana Bari, questioned the identity of two women.

The members of the commission along with the minister had gone to the village by helicopter. The minister said the commission also took thumb impressions of the women to make every possible attempt to ascertain their identity, which would be produced before the apex court during the next hearing on June 20. Mian Iftikhar said he was thankful to the local elders and the relatives of the women, who, despite their strict tradition and culture, produced the women before the commission.

The commission headed by Munira Abbasi and comprising ANP MNA Bushra Gohar, Farzana Bari, Hazara Division Commissioner Khalid Khan Umarzai, District Coordination Officer Kohistan Aqal Badshah, Deputy Inspector General of Police Dr Mohammad Naeem and District Police Officer Abdul Majid Afridi also recorded statements of the local elders, ulema and members of the jirga that had allegedly issued a decree to kill the women.

Head of the commission Munira Abbasi did not talk to media and said that she was not mandated to speak to the reporters.

Talking to reporters, women’s rights activist Farzana Bari said: “Though I am sure about the identity of the two women whom I met during my earlier visit, I cannot say with certainty that the other two women who showed up today are the same shown in the video.”

The News