Man ‘not embarrassed’ by killing sister
Pakistani celebrity strangled ‘for honour’
ISLAMABAD: The brother of a murdered Pakistani celebrity said yesterday he is “not embarrassed” to have killed her, as Qandeel Baloch’s death reignited polarising calls for action against the “epidemic” of honour killings.
The strangling of Baloch, judged as in famous by many in deeply conservative Muslim Pakistan for selfies and videos that by Western standards would appear tame, has prompted a wave of shock and revulsion.
Her brother Muhammad Wasimwas arrested late on Saturday, Multan City police chief Azhar Akram said, and confessed to drugging then strangling her “for honour”.
“Yes, of course I strangled her,” Mr Wasim said at a defiant news conference organised by police, early yesterday.
“She was on the ground floor while our parents were asleep on the roof top,” he continued. “It was around 10.45pm when I gave her a tablet ... and then killed her.” Mr Wasim said he acted alone. “I am not embarrassed at all over what I did,” he said. “Whatever was the case, it [his sister’s behaviour] was completely intolerable.”
Baloch, believed to be in her 20s and whose real name was Fauzia Azeem, rose to fame for her provocative Facebook posts that saw her praised by some for breaking social taboos but condemned by conservatives.
She was killed on Friday night at her family’s home near Multan. Mr Wasim went on the run and was arrested late on Saturday in neighbouring Muzaffargarh district.
Hundreds of women are murdered for “honour” every year in Pakistan. The killers overwhelmingly walk free because of a law that allows the family of the victim to forgive the murderer — who is often also a relative.
Filmmaker Sharmeemn Obaid-Chinoy, whose documentary on honour killings won an Oscar earlier this year, slammed Baloch’s murder as symptomatic of an “epidemic” of violence against women in Pakistan.
She joined other liberals in Pakistan who called for anti-honour killing legislation. “Activists have screamed themselves hoarse,” she said. “When will it stop?”
But many conservatives pushed back, with some arguing online that her family would have had “no choice”.
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. She also posed for selfies with a high-profile mullah in an incident that saw him swiftly rebuked by the country’s religious affairs ministry.
She told local media she had received death threats in the wake of the controversy and that her requests for protection from authorities had been ignored.
Baloch’s funeral was held yesterday near her family home in southern Punjab.
A vigil held late on Saturday in Lahore was attended by dozens of mourners, while an online petition entitled “No Country for Bold Women” and demanding accountability over her death had gone viral by yesterday with hundreds of signatures.
Initially dismissed as a Kim Kardashianlike figure, Baloch was seen by some as empowered in a country where women have fought for their rights for decades.
“Qandeel was an extremely astute individual who knew that what she was doing was more than being the most loved bad girl of Pakistan,” columnist and activist Aisha Sarawari said. Her killing “defines yet another setback for the women of our generation ... This makes it harder for women. Period”.
“Many in Pakistan have laid blame for her death on her bold and provocative public acts, but for me her lifestyle was irrelevant,” said Benazir Jatoi, who works with a local NGO, Aurat Foundation, that focuses on women’s empowerment. “Qandeel has put a face to the countless ordinary Pakistani women that are murdered because society has given carte blanche to men.”