ISLAMABAD: A three member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Wednesday concluded the suo moto case taken over the Kohistan killings case stating that the girls in question have been found alive and the claim of the killings was unverifiable, DawnNews reported.
The court stated that the investigative teams comprising a civil judge, MNA Bushra Gauhar, rights activist Farzana Bari (part of civil society) were sent twice to verify the claims aired on certain television channels and the report submitted by the team was found to be satisfactory according to the Chief Justice.
The Chief Justice, while giving his remarks, said that the court condemns the holding of any illegal jirga but no evidence was found that would suggest any error in the report and that he trusted the judicial officer working on the case.
Chaudhry also thanked former Interior Minister Rehman Malik and the administration for their cooperation on the case.
He further directed rights activist Farzana Bari to present the court with any other evidence that she might posses and added that the case could be taken up again in case any evidence turned up.
Civil society representative, Bari, was a member of the fact-finding delegation sent to the northwestern region and had earlier informed the court that problems had been faced in locating and identifying two of the women.
The Supreme Court had taken a suo motu notice in the Kohistan death decree case.
Clerics had allegedly issued orders for the killing of four women and two men after a mobile phone video emerged of the six singing and dancing at a wedding in a remote village in Kohistan.
Later, the man who had broken the news of the decree came up with more shocking news stating that the four women seen in the video and another woman had been killed by their relatives in the village of Pales.
