Pakistani students charged over video showing mixed-gender dancing

Pakistan police have charged male and female university students with "obscene acts" after a video showing them dancing together at a snowy mountain resort went viral.

The students from Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), one of the country's leading educational institutions, were charged under a law that prohibits "obscene acts, songs and words" in a public place.

The charges were registered in the region of Malam Jabba, a snowy mountainous area famous for winter sports including a ski resort, police officer Noor Alam told dpa.

Malam Jabba is located in Swat, a tourist town in the conservative province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, which was controlled by the Pakistani Taliban before they were chased out in a series of military offensives.

The charges were filed after a video shot last month went viral. In the footage, male and female students can be seen dancing on the snow with music being played on amplifiers.

Men and women dancing together in public is considered taboo in Muslim-majority Pakistan, where religion is one of the main factors guiding social discourse.

There was a mixed reaction on social media, with some people criticising the charges against the students as overly strict and others denouncing them for acting "against the spirit of Islam".  (dpa)