A woman journalist was shot dead at her home in Turbat area of Balochistan’s Kech district on Saturday evening allegedly by her husband, police said.

This is the latest incident in a series of gruesome examples of domestic violence in Pakistan.

The victim – Shaheena Shaheen, was a local anchorperson at PTV and editor of a local magazine. She was also a student of fine arts at the University Of Balochistan. It is believed her husband killed Shaheen because she was becoming famous in her area, a conservative part of Balochistan.

In a report compiled in 2018, it was estimated that 50 people, including 30 women, had been killed in the name of honour in Balochistan.

The report was compiled by The Aurat Foundation — a non-governmental organisation — working for protection of the rights of women and shared with the public at a press conference in Quetta, the provincial capital.

According to programme officer Muhammad Ashfaq Mengal, the victims were mostly killed by close relatives, including husbands, brothers and other relatives in the name of so-called honour and small family feuds.

This seems to be the case behind the death of Shaheen as well. “The killing was the result of domestic violence,” Kech superintendent of police Najeebullah Pandrani said, adding that police were investigating the murder.

He said no arrests had been made so far. However, Shaheen’s family lodged a first information report (FIR) against her husband, whom she married five months ago. Her body was shifted to her residence for burial, police said.