Qandeel was strangled to death in her house in Multan’s Karimabad area in the early hours of Saturday morning.
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The brother of Pakistan’s social media celebrity Qandeel Baloch has been arrested for drugging and strangulating to death the model for bringing “shame” to the family by posting risque videos and posts on Facebook, reigniting debate on a spate of honour killings that has plagued the country.
Waseem said he killed his sister due to her social media activities, which included a series of posts with a prominent Muslim cleric, Abdul Qavi.
The Dawn said the brother told them, “She wasn’t aware I was killing her”.
“I was determined either to kill myself or kill her”, Azeem told The Associated Press as he was being led away.
“Yes of course, I strangled her”.
Baloch became a household name for her bold social media photos which challenged social norms in Pakistan, where women are often repressed by their family or the community.
She faced frequent misogynist abuse and death threats but continued to post.
On Friday, the day she was killed, she posted a picture with the message, “No Matter how many times I will be pushed down under, But I m Fighter I will Bounce back”.
“Many in Pakistan have laid blame for her death on her bold and provocative public acts”, noted Benazir Jatoi, who works with the Aurat Foundation, a local NGO working on women’s legal and political empowerment.
Police said they were looking for Waseem, who has since disappeared.
The city police chief said the authorities will charge Waseem with honour killing and seek “maximum punishment”. According to Rappler.com, many killers are allowed to walk free because of a law in place that allows the family to forgive the murderer.
In one picture, she was wearing the cleric’s trademark fur-lined hat.
“As a women we must stand up for ourselves”, she wrote on Facebook on July 14.
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“Qandeel has put a face to the countless ordinary Pakistani women that are murdered because society has given carte blanche to men”, she added. “As a women we must stand up for each other.As a women we must stand up for justice”. No help was provided and the interior ministry has not commented on her death.
