LHC acquits Qandeel Baloch’s brother of murder

MULTAN: The Lahore High Court Multan Bench acquitted the brother of model and social media star Qandeel Baloch in her “honour” killing case on Monday.

The court acquitted the accused, Wasim, after he reneged on his admission of murder and witnesses testified in his favour, his counsel said. The accused had been in custody since July 2016 and would be released after fulfilling legal requirements. He was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Multan Model Court on September 27, 2019. The lawyer argued that the court had ignored the facts.

The plaintiff, the father of the victim and the accused, has died. The accused had filed an appeal in the court seeking quashing of his sentence. Five accused, including two brothers of the victim, were also acquitted earlier. Advocate Sardar Mehboob presented arguments in the court on behalf of the accused. Agreeing with them, the court quashed the sentence. His mother had also submitted a statement in the court that she had pardoned him, he added.

In 2016, Waseem had admitted in a press conference organised by police that he had strangled his 26-year-old sister for her social media activities. Mufti Abdul Qawi, a scholar who was arrested for his alleged involvement in the murder, was also freed as police could not establish his link to the murder.

Qandeel Baloch had posted Facebook posts in which she said she was trying to change “the typical orthodox mindset” of people in Pakistan. She faced frequent abuse and death threats but continued to post pictures and videos seen as “provocative.” She had built a modelling career on the back of her social media fame, but drew ire from many Pakistanis. Her killing had sent shockwaves across Pakistan and triggered an outpouring of grief on social media, spurring the government to tighten laws dealing with men who would kill a close relative in the name of “honour.”