Pak cleric held for sentencing six to death

Police on Tuesday arrested a cleric accused of sentencing four married women and two men to death for allegedly singing and dancing at a wedding in the remote Kohistan district in northern Pakistan.

The cleric, who was arrested along with a companion, however, denied he had issued any edict against the men and women, officials in Kohistan said.

It had emerged on Monday that a jirga or tribal council had condemned the six persons to death for 'staining the honour' of their families by singing and dancing together.

The jirga based its decision on a mobile phone video made at the wedding in Bando Baidar village, about 200 km from Islamabad.

The men fled before the jirga could act against them while the women were locked up in a room.