MANSEHRA: A young man was killed for honour in the Kundain village of Torghar district as the police managed to rescue the woman suspected to be in relation with the deceased.

`We feared for the woman`s life due to her alleged connection with the deceased, so we shifted her to Darul Aman (shelter home) for her protection,` DSP Sardar Javed told the reporters in Judbah, the district headquarters of Torghar, on Sunday.

According to police, the accused suspected that his sister-in-law, 17, had illicit relations with a man, and allegedly chased and fatally shot him while he was grazing cattle in a field, and then fled the scene.

`Upon receiving reports of the murder, we immediately dispatched a team along with policewomen to the woman`s residence. Our team reached there after walking five hours and brought her to the police station,` DSP Javed said.

He said the woman was later produced before a civil judge at his camp office in Oghi, who ordered her to be shifted to Darul Aman in Mansehra for her safety.

Mr Javed said her husband had currently been serving a jail sentence in Mansehra in connection with a separate murder case.

`Preliminary investigation suggests the woman had sought divorce from her incarcerated husband. His brother, in response, murdered the young man and planned to kill her as well,` said DSP Javed.

Judbah police registered an FIR and launched raidsto apprehend the suspect.

Meanwhile, Zahid Khan, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan`s representative in Torghar, condemned the incident and urged authorities to take stronger action against honour and genderbased violence, as homicide over this issue was higher here as compared with the neighbouring districts.

`Torghar was granted the status of a settled district in 2011 through a presidential order, yet we continue to live under tribal-era practices. It`s time the law protects both men and women from being killed under the guise of honour,` he said.