MARDAN, June 22: The local police on Wednesday arrested five of the 14 accused who stoned and shot a woman to death in Bairoch village here on Tuesday.

Police said that they had been conducting raids for the arrest of the remaining accused, including Mohammad Saeed, husband of the victim Shazia.

Rustam police station SHO Shah Mumtaz Khan said that according to the postmortem report, the victim received several injuries on her head, face and other parts of body.

It was learnt that sometime back Saeed had killed his own brother on suspicion of having illicit relations with Shazia.

A resident of the area, who requested anonymity, said that Shazia, 23, had received injuries in that occurrence following which she had left her husband’s home and started living with her mother, Noor Jehan. Sources said that Saeed had been required to police in the murder of his brother.

According to preliminary investigation, the SHO said that Shazia, a resident of Barikot in Swat district, had entered into a love marriage with Saeed of Bairoch village six months ago.

He said that according to their information Shazia had left her husband’s house after some domestic dispute and was residing with her mother, who is complainant in the present case.

The SHO said that a search operation was under way in the area and the rest of the accused would also be arrested within next few days.

He claimed that the accused belonged to criminal groups who were required in various cases in different police stations of the district.

Meanwhile, chairperson of Provincial Commission on the Status of Women, Zubaida Khatoon, has condemned the killing of Shazia in the name of honour.

In a statement on Wednesday, she said that the authorities concerned should ensure that the perpetrators of the incident were handed down an exemplary punishment.

“The commission calls upon the government to take appropriate steps to curb alternate systems of justice such as the local jirga that passes inhuman judgment against women for issues related to family and honour,” said the statement.