Qandeel Baloch rose to popularity amongst Pakistan’s youth through social media posts that broke the barriers in her very orthodox Muslim country. “I have never had any hatred for her”, he told Express Tribune newspaper.
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“She was on the ground floor while our parents were asleep on the roof top”, he continued. “It was around 10:45 p.m. when I gave her a tablet … and then killed her”.
“I had convinced Qandeel to repent on her sins and asked her to come towards the right path. I had even offered her a marriage proposal in her new life”, Qawi said.
“Whatever was the case, it (his sister’s behaviour) was completely intolerable”.
Quandeel’s killing has shocked the south Asian country.
Regional police chief Sultan Taimuri said authorities will seek the maximum punishment for Azeem, without providing further details.
The star suffered frequent misogynist abuse.
After Ms Baloch’s death, many Pakistanis again called for the passage of an anti-honour killing law, aimed a closing a loophole that allows family members to forgive the killers.
Qandeel Baloch, who began her career by appearing on Pakistani Idol, was a popular and divisive figure in conservative Pakistan, often appearing on television in revealing, non-traditional clothes to talk about feminist concepts.
But many conservatives pushed back, with some echoing Wasim’s statement by arguing that her family would have had “no choice”.
Baloch was buried early Sunday near her family home in southern Punjab.
Some of Baloch’s more notorious acts included volunteering to perform a striptease for the Pakistani cricket team, and donning a plunging scarlet dress on Valentine’s Day. After the reports were published, she confirmed that her legal name was Fouzia Azeem and that she had been using an alias for safety reasons.
No help was provided and the interior ministry has not commented on her death.
Her brother, Waseem, had reportedly told her to stop modeling and posting controversial photos. He had made a decision to kill her months ago after his sister posted videos of herself with Pakistani religious scholar Mufti Abdul Qavi, but was “waiting for the best moment”.
Her killing “defines yet another setback for the women of our generation…” There might be behind the scene involvement of some others in her murder, he added.
As her media profile grew, Zubair said Baloch became aware “of her power to deliver a certain message about being female in Pakistan”, and that she had become a “burgeoning activist for increasing women’s visibility” in the country.
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Meanwhile, members of the civil society on Sunday held a demonstration at Liberty Chowk Lahore and condemned her killing.
