'Honour' killing fears over women in fatwa

FEARS rose yesterday over the fate of five Pakistani women condemned to death by tribal elders for singing and dancing with unrelated men at a wedding, after several villagers claimed they had been killed to restore their families' "honour".

Pakistan's Express Tribune quoted three men from Seertaiy village in northwest Pakistan's conservative Kohistan region who said all five women had their throats slit on May 31 by male relatives after the tribal fatwa.

The case caused national uproar after it came to public attention last month, prompting local authorities to arrest the cleric who gave the execution order.

The cleric, Maulana Azad, also called for the death of two men seen in the video, brothers who face police charges for having made the video of the women before allegedly splicing footage of themselves on to the film and uploading it to the internet. (...)