Islamabad: The brother of Pakistani social media star Qandeel Baloch has been arrested for her murder, confessing he strangled her for “honour”.
Waseem Azeem was arrested in Dera Ghazi Khan in central Pakistan, having earlier fled the family home and murder scene, late on Saturday. “Yes, of course I strangled her,” he told journalists in a press conference arranged by the police early on Sunday. “I have no regrets.” He said that he acted alone and was “not embarrassed at all” because his sister’s behaviour “was completely intolerable”. “She was on the ground floor while our parents were asleep on the rooftop,” he said. “It was around 10.45 PM when I gave her a tablet ... and then killed her.”
Azhar Ikram, the police chief in Multan, where Baloch was killed, said: “Wasim confessed to his crime, saying he killed his sister for honour after her recent objectionable videos, mostly posted on Facebook.”
Baloch, whose real name was Fauzia Azeem, rose to fame for her provocative social media posts that saw her praised by some for breaking social taboos but condemned by conservatives.
On her final, July 4 post to her Facebook page, which has almost 800,000 fans, she wrote: “I am trying to change the typical orthodox mindset of people who don’t wanna come out of their shells of false beliefs and old practices.”
Baloch first rose to prominence in 2013 when she participated in season one of Pakistan Idol. She was rumored to be one of the contestants from the upcoming season ten of Bigg Boss.
The 26-year-old model, actress, feminist activist and social media celebrity faced frequent misogynist abuse and death threats but continued to post.
Earlier this year, Baloch offered to strip if the Pakistani cricket team beat India.
She also posed for selfies with a high-profile Muslim cleric in an incident that saw him swiftly rebuked by the country’s religious affairs ministry.
Before her death Baloch spoke of worries about her safety and had appealed to the interior ministry to provide her with security for protection. No help was provided and the interior ministry has not commented on her death.
She was killed on Friday night at her family’s home near Multan. The killing sent shockwaves across Muslim Pakistan and triggered an outpouring of grief on social media for Baloch.
More than 500 people, mostly 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.
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