These are the teenage girls who were murdered alongside their mother – for apparently “dishonouring” their family by allowing themselves to be filmed playing and dancing in the rain.
Noor Basra and Noor Sheza, aged 15 and 16, died last Sunday when five masked men burst into their home in the northern Pakistan region of Gilgit and began firing. Their mother Noshehra was also killed in the attack.
Police believe the girls’ stepbrother Khutore interpreted the video as “an assault on the honour of his family” and tried to “restore the family’s honour” by killing them, Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper reports.
Noor Basra and Noor Sheza, aged 15 and 16 were filmed enjoying a rain shower outside their Gilgit home in Pakistan
Khutore’s whereabouts are unknown but four of his friends confessed to the murders, a senior police source told the newspaper.
The footage, which shows the sisters wearing traditional shalwar kameez trouser suits and headscarves while dancing and smiling at the camera, was filmed six months ago and was circulated via mobile phones, apparently causing outrage in their conservative Pakistani hometown.
The girls’ other teenage brother has also filed a case against Khutore and his four alleged accomplices, all of whom are now on the run, The Sunday Times reports.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said that in 2011, 943 women were killed for apparently causing shame to their families, the Telegraph reported last year.
The figure is an increase of more than 100 in 2010.
In November a Pakistani couple admitted killing their 15-year-old daughter because she "looked at a boy".
The girl's father told the BBC they flung acid at her because they feared her act would bring dishonour on the family.
He said: "There was a boy who came by on a motorcycle. She (Anusha) turned to look at him twice. I told her not to do that, it's wrong."
Her mother recounted: "She said 'I didn't do it on purpose. I won't look again'. By then I had already thrown the acid. It was her destiny to die this way."