BHC grants bail to tribal leader in Degari honour killing case

The Balochistan High Court (BHC) on Monday granted bail to tribal leader Sardar Sherbaz Satakzai in connection with the Degari honour killing case, in which a couple was shot dead earlier this year.

Justice Iqbal Kasi of the BHC approved Satakzai’s bail plea after his application had previously been rejected by a lower court. The court directed him to furnish surety bonds worth Rs500,000.

Satakzai was among those arrested following a widely circulated video on social media showing a tribal gathering in a remote area near Degari, on the outskirts of Quetta. The footage depicted a woman and a man being shot dead, allegedly on the orders of a local jirga.

According to police surgeon Dr Ayesha, the woman sustained seven gunshot wounds while the man was shot nine times. The Balochistan government registered a case under anti-terrorism laws after the video drew national outrage. Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti condemned the incident, describing it as “heinous.”

Investigators later named the woman’s brother, Jalal Satakzai, among the prime suspects. Another video surfaced in which the victim’s mother, Gul Jan, defended the killings as being in line with “Baloch tribal customs” and denied any unlawful action by the tribal elders.

The case was registered under Sections 302 (murder), 149 (unlawful assembly), 148 (rioting with deadly weapons), 147 (rioting) of the Pakistan Penal Code, along with provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.