MANSEHRA(National Times)- A woman was allegedly killed in the name of honour in the Dasu area of Upper Kohistan, police said on Tuesday, as they searched for a man reportedly linked to her amid fears that he could also be targeted under a local custom.

Speaking to reporters, Upper Kohistan district police officer Tahir Iqbal said the police suspected that the married woman was killed for honour, but her family lodged an FIR claiming she was killed by a stray bullet.

He said the deceased’s father stated in the FIR that she was accidentally hit by a bullet fired by her brother and later succumbed to her injuries.

The DPO said police had arrested the suspected killer, but had also launched an investigation to ascertain the exact cause of her death. “We cannot rely solely on the family’s account. If the woman was killed for honour, the man who was allegedly linked to her could also be killed, and we want to save his life,” Mr Iqbal said.

He said that, according to local tradition called Chor, a family that kills a woman in the name of honour sends a message to the man’s family demanding that he also be killed or face their wrath. “This is why people in Kohistan rarely come forward to lodge FIRs when a man or woman is killed for honour under the prevailing traditions,” Mr Iqbal said.

The DPO said police were involving clerics and elders in efforts to abolish the custom, under which homicides were committed in the name of honour.

A police constable belonging to Kohistan and settled in the Baffa area of Mansehra was killed, along with a woman, last month in the name of honour, also in Dasu, the district headquarters of Upper Kohistan.