Pakistani model Qandeel Baloch was strangled to death by her brother in an apparent “honor killing”, police said on Saturday. Qandeel Baloch, held up by numerous country’s youth for her willingness to break social taboos but condemned and reviled by traditional elements, was strangled near the city of Multan, police said. The police suspect her brother, Waseem Ahmed Azeem, of killing Baloch.
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In an interview published earlier this week by Pakistani lifestyle site Dawn Images, Baloch said her family had forced her to marry a much older, uneducated man when she was 17.
Baloch, whose real name was Fauzia Azeem, was an internet celebrity who had offended many conservatives by posting pictures of herself with Mufti Qavi, a prominent cleric. Some followers praised the way she lived and denounced honor killings while conservatives called her a “disgrace”.
Baloch’s raunchy social media photos challenged social norms in Pakistan, a deeply traditional Muslim country where women are often repressed by their family or the community. “As a women [sic] we must stand up for ourselves”, she wrote. It aired before she was killed.
Baloch has been described as Pakistan’s Kim Kardashian and had built a modelling career on the back of her social media fame. “While a lot of feminists here are dismissive of her, some see her as daring”. She cultivated an outrageous public persona, recently promising to perform a public striptease if the Pakistani cricket team won a major tournament.
Earlier this month, Baloch sought protection from the government, saying she was receiving anonymous death threats. Pakistan’s Express Tribune reported earlier this month that the Interior Ministry did not respond to her requests, and that she planned to move overseas for her security.
Most recently, she posted on her Twitter encouraging women to stand up for themselves and trying to inspire them to never be ashamed of who they are. She blurred that line.
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More than 500 people – nearly all women – die in Pakistan each year in such killings, usually carried out by members of the victim’s family meting out punishment for bringing “shame” on the community.
