MULTAN: A court on Friday convicted the brother of social media star Qandeel Baloch of her 2016 murder, a killing that sparked a change in laws and ignited fierce debate over the prevalence of ‘honour killings’ of women.
A court in Multan found Muhammad Waseem guilty of the murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment. In the 38-page
verdict, Judge Imran Shafi acquitted five other people, including another of Qandeel’s other brothers, Aslam Shaheen, and Mufti Abdul Qavi, a cleric who remained a central figure in the murder investigation.
The other acquitted accused are Haq Nawaz, Abdul Basit and Muhammad Zafar Hussain. The court has now declared one more accused, Qandeel’s third brother Arif, a proclaimed offender.
“Waseem has been given life in prison,” the lawyer, Sardar Mehboob, told Media , shortly after the verdict was delivered.
He added he would file an appeal against the verdict, which was delivered after hearings spanning a month less than four years.
Qandeel – born Fouzia Azeem – was found strangled to death in her house in Multan’s Karimabad area on July 16, 2016.
Her father had accused Waseem of the murder, who admitted in a 2016 media conference that he strangled his 26-year-old sister due to her social media activities.
In August this year, Baloch’s parents, in their affidavit, maintained that they have pardoned their sons – Waseem and Aslam Shaheen – seeking their acquittal ‘for the mercy and approval of the Almighty’.
The prosecution, on the other hand, responded with a written statement, maintaining that pardoning the accused was not legally permissible in the honour killing cases.
She overcame frequent misogynist abuse and death threats to build a modelling career on the back of her social media fame.
Her selfies with Mufti Qavi went viral on social media, after which the cleric’s membership of the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee and the National Ulema Mushaikh Council was suspended.–Agencies
