“You can only shoot me, nothing else,” Bano Bibi is heard saying in Brahvi, a language spoken by the Brahui people in Balochistan, a province in southwestern Pakistan. The ambiguous phrase added a layer of distress to the scene moments before her brother raised a gun and fired at her from a short distance. After the third shot, Bano crumples to the ground next to her alleged lover’s body. The group of men then riddled their bodies with bullets.
This gruesome honor killing in Balochistan was captured on video, which quickly went viral on social media platforms. Initial media reports suggest that the couple were killed because they fell in love and chose to marry according to their own will. Bano’s mother, Gul Jan, pleaded online to the Chief Minister of Balochistan, Sarfaraz Bugti, to exonerate the group of 14 men shown in the video who carried out the killings for the sake of their family and tribal honor.
“Yes, we killed them, but we did not do anything shameful. We acted according to Baloch traditions,” Gul Jan said. She further claimed her daughter Bano, a married woman and mother of five children, had an illicit affair with her neighbor, Ehsanullah, who was also married with children. Ehsanullah allegedly began blackmailing and threatening her daughter and her son-in-law, which led the family to bring the matter to their local tribal jirga, or counsel. The local tribal chief, Sardar Sher Baz Khan Satakzai, ordered the deaths of both Bano and Ehsanullah for their alleged illicit relationship
The Digital Rights Foundation, a research and advocacy organization based in Pakistan, expressed serious concerns about the aftermath of the incident, highlighting the troubling rise of support for the accused men on various social media platforms, particularly on TikTok, where AI-generated videos spread misinformation and glorified violence under the guise of honor and virtue.
Hija Kamran, a digital rights expert who focuses on issues at the intersection of gender and technology, says that this glorification stems from broader societal views of women in Pakistan. “Social media is a reflection of the society we live in, and AI now visualises people’s violent thoughts, giving others the validation that they seek for this violence.” She further expressed concerns about the commercialisation of Generative AI without questioning the implications for women.
“We have introduced it to the masses without addressing the existing issues like this one that cripple Pakistani society,” says Kamran. She points at the concept of morality, calling it ‘subjective,’ and says that the protectionist approach to counter gender-based violence needs to be addressed, “You can’t blame women for the crimes of their abusers.”
The video of Bano’s execution has drawn widespread condemnation, with rights groups calling for immediate action to be taken against those involved in the murders, including the local tribal chief. However, women’s rights activists are also calling out the provincial government for perpetuating victim-blaming in their narrative around the incident.
At a press conference on Monday, Balochistan’s Chief Minister, Sarfaraz Bugti, stated, “Our society does not permit this, nor does our government permit this. Our government does not in the slightest have sympathy for these murderers.” However, the majority of the statement heavily focused on the victims’ marital status. The shift in focus overlooked the critical issue of the tribal jirgas’ orders to execute the victims in broad daylight, focusing instead on questions of the victims’ fidelity.
Fatima Khilji, an advocate and women’s rights activist from Balochistan, says that unwavering tribal allegiance to local heads, or sardars, upholds the system of patriarchy in Balochistan that allows tribal chiefs to act without impunity. “Bano’s mother made a video that totally supports this tribal system and benefits those arrested for the murder,” says Khilji. “She character-assassinated her daughter to justify the honor killing.” Khilji believes that Bano’s mother made the video under pressure from tribal elders.
Naimatullah Serhadi, a senior journalist in Balochistan, tells CSOH that these instances of honor killings are frequent. “This particular incident went viral due to the video. However, just yesterday in Quetta, [ Pakistan,] on Qambrani Road, a father killed his daughter and his nephew because they were in love and wanted to get married despite his objections.” Serhadi also recalled another tragic incident in Quetta early this year when a father killed his U.S.-born 15-year-old daughter after she refused to stop posting videos on TikTok.
“In Balochistan, such cases are common,” says Alauddin Khilji, the Director of the Aurat Foundation in Balochistan. “Every month, there are at least 20, 25, and sometimes more cases involving incidents of honor killings, but they are not reported or caught.”
However, the practice of honor killing isn’t particular to the Province of Balochistan. According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), the oldest non-profit human rights organization in the country, at least 405 women were killed in 2024 in the name of honor in Pakistan. HRCP reported that 67 First Action Reports (FIRs) were lodged for honor killings in Balochistan during 2024.
The recent incident has brought significant attention to a region that is often ignored by the state and negatively portrayed by mainstream media as a region plagued by conflict and instability. There is a tendency for the media to focus on official narratives, while suppressing local narratives that include state exploitation of indigenous resources and ports, crackdown on dissenting voices, and forced disappearances.
“Social media is reeking of selective moral outrage that is both morally hypocritical and intellectually dishonest,” says Dr. Aslam Kakar, a teaching fellow and research scholar on ethno-political conflict at Rutgers University, and a Balochistan native. “Baloch women are routinely beaten up, jailed, and disappeared by the state; we don’t see any or little outrage there from the same people.”
This incident underscores the intricate political and tribal dynamics of Pakistan, as well as the deteriorating human rights conditions, particularly the rise in gender-based violence against women. Entrenched gender roles and the weight of tribal and familial honor all contribute significantly to these tragic outcomes. Social media amplifies these issues—at times in a positive manner by bringing light to the events—but more often by providing a platform for glorifying violence and perpetuating victim-blaming narratives, which exacerbate the already precarious position of women in Pakistani society.