The Balochistan High Court (BHC) on Monday granted bail to tribal elder Sardar Sherbaz Khan Satakzai, who was arrested in July this year in the Degari honour killing case in which a couple was shot dead in the name of ‘honour’.
After hearing arguments from both sides, a single-judge bench, headed by Justice Muhammad Iqbal Kasi, granted bail to Satakzai against surety bonds of Rs500,000. He was released following the court’s approval of the bail application.
Sardar Satakzai had been arrested on the allegation that, as a tribal chief, he had endorsed through a jirga the killing of the woman and the man.
Acting on the jirga’s order, the woman’s brother reportedly opened fire on his 40-year-old sister Bano Bibi in the presence of a large number of people from the area. At the same time, the man Ehsanullah was also killed at the same place.
The incident came to light after a video of the shooting went viral on social media over a month after the killings occurred. According to police surgeon Dr Ayesha, the woman was shot seven times and the man nine times.
Police subsequently launched an investigation and took several people into custody, including Sardar Sherbaz Khan Satakzai.
So far, police have arrested 17 people in connection with the case, including Bano Bibi’s mother and another brother. The mother was later released on bail. However, the main accused, who shot and killed his own sister, has yet to be arrested.