Demonstrators in Islamabad on Monday denounced the murder of Pakistani social media star Qandeel Baloch.
ADVERTISEMENTDemonstrators in Islamabad on Monday denounced the murder of Pakistani social media star Qandeel Baloch.
They also chanted their opposition to the so-called honour killings that each year in the country claim the lives of more than 500 people – almost all of them women.
Baloch’s brother, Muhammad Waseem, has told media that he drugged and strangled his sister as she had violated their family’s honour with her risqué social media posts.
“The reason for her death is the videos she uploaded on Facebook and we can’t tolerate it,” he said.
Seen as a feminist icon for some but a disgrace to Islam to others, Qandeel Baloch, 26, divided opinion in her deeply conservative homeland with pictures and videos that earned her the nickname of Pakistan’s Kim Kardashian.
The dishonourable killing of Qandeel Baloch https://t.co/NrJzaeIHFM
— The Guardian (@guardian) 18 juillet 2016
Her social media posts included a series of selfies with a prominent cleric, Abdul Qavi, who was subsequently suspended from a prominent Muslim council. One video appears to show Baloch sitting on Qavi’s lap.
Police now say he is part of their investigation into her murder on Friday, although he denies any involvement.