It is claimed that, when the footage became public, a tribal jirga was held shortly afterwards where it was decided that the participants as well as the boy who filmed the video should be killed.

In May 2012, the video was leaked online and as the girls and men were from different tribes, a jirga was convened by local tribesmen where it was decided that the participants should be killed, as inter-tribal mingling is widely considered to be forbidden.

[3] The incident reached national media in June 2012 when Afzal Kohistani, the elder brother of the boys connected to the video, alleged that the girls had been killed on the orders of the Azadkhel tribe jirga.

[5][6][7] Dr Farzana Bari, a woman's rights activist who made both trips to meet the girls, initially agreed with the conclusions reached[5] but then lodged her dissent.

[7] In response to the closure of the case, Afzal Kohistani asserted that imposters had been presented to the investigation team and that the real girls were dead.

[7] The defence lawyer argued that the girls couldn't be brought before the commission because of local tribal restrictions making it a matter of honour and shame.

That argument was rejected by Justice Ejaz Afzal and sessions judge, Shoaib Khan, and other officials, were dispatched to meet the girls.

She stated: "Photos of the girls taken during the commission session were given to a Reuters' journalist, Katharine Houreld, who got the matching done through a renowned independent British agency 'Digital Barriers'.

"[9]In August 2018, on the order of the Supreme Court, the Kohistan police registered a first information report for the alleged honour killing of the five girls connected to the video.