[Dawn] Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
Minister for Information Mian Iftikhar Hussain has said that the provincial government is satisfied that all the five girls, suspected of being killed in an honour-related murder case in Kohistan
...a backwoods district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa distinguished by being even more rustic than is the norm among the local Pashtuns....
, are alive.
"Ample evidence, collected by a fact finding mission of the provincial government, is available on the basis of which it has been established that all the five girls are alive and safe," he told a news conference at Chief Minister House here on Sunday.
The minister said that evidence collected during the course of visits to Kohistan established that neither any jirga had taken place nor a religious decree was issued by any holy man to instruct the alleged killing of the five girls at the centre of a controversy.
The controversy emerged after a video surfaced showing five girls clapping with two young men dancing at a private gathering in Kohistan's Beech Bela village.
Mr Hussain said that the fact finding mission visited Beech Bela again on Saturday to find out the whereabouts of the girls.
The team was consisted of Additional Sessions Judge Muneera, who was appointed by the Supreme Court to visit the area,
MNA Bushra Gohar and social worker Farzana Bari.
He said that the team met with four of the five girls, including Sareen Jan, Begum Jan, Aamna and Shaheen, and interviewed them in detail. The fifth girl, Bazgha, said the minister, was not available and could not be reached for her being on the family way. However,
ars longa, vita brevis...
her parents were present on the occasion, he said.
"All those present on the occasion gave evidence, in front of the official team, that all the five girls were alive and safe," Mr Hussain said, adding that the misleading information about the killing of the girls had defamed the province, Pakhtun culture and the traditional institution of jirga.
He said that provincial government would take legal action against Afzal Khan, the brother of the two young men, for spreading false information about the girls' murder in an honour-related case at the behest of a local jirga.
The provincial government, said the minister, felt happy on the Supreme Court's initiative to find out the reality about the girls' fate.
He said that government had decided to establish a primary school at Beech Bela in addition to reconstructing its basic health unit to improve social services in the under-developed area.
"After two visits to the village, it has also been decided to construct a linking bridge to connect Beech Bela with the nearby villages," Mr Hussain said.