ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday gave the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) additional advocate general (AAG) four weeks to wrap up the investigation of the 2012 killing of four girls and two boys from Kohistan.
In 2012, the Kohistan video scandal had caused a nationwide shock at the killing of the youngsters by members of their tribe after a video of them dancing at a wedding in a remote village in Kohistan had popped up on social media.
Mohammad Afzal Kohistani, a brother of the murdered boys, had earlier demanded the authorities to protect his brothers.
The SC had taken a suo motu notice of the case after reports surfaced that the killings were a result of alleged orders given by clerics.
In Wednesday’s hearing at the apex court, the provincial AAG told the court that the KP forensic lab had failed to identify the girls seen in the video.
In response, Justice Ijazul Ahsan pointed out that the court had earlier ordered that the video to be forwarded to the Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA) for testing as “they have better devices”.
The additional advocate general informed the court that the step was not taken and further excused himself by telling the court that the investigation was an arduous task since the town in question is at a six-hour distance, and the people of the area, although previously questioned, need to be interrogated again.
During the hearing, Justice Ahsan also mentioned that two members of the forensic board had agreed that the girls in the video were the same as the ones who had been killed, while one member had refuted the confirmation.
The AAG requested the court to grant the investigation team another two months to complete the probe.
The hearing was adjourned after granting the investigation team a month to conclude it’s findings.
