Ms Baloch was admired by liberals but reviled by conservatives
Ms Baloch was admired by liberals but reviled by conservatives
SAN FRANCISCO (Diya TV) — Qandeel Baloch, a celebrity of social media fame from Pakistan, was killed by her very own brother in an apparent “honor killing” in the Punjab province of Pakistan, police said Saturday. The 26-year-old Baloch recently stirred controversy after after posting risque photos of herself, including one alongside a Muslim cleric.
She became a household social media celebrity in Pakistan for her posts of bold and sometimes raunchy photos and videos, as well as explicit comments.
Cases of women being killed for “dishonoring” their family have become commonplace in the country — hundreds are murdered each year in the so-called “honor killings.” Police said Baloch was strangled to death. Her parents said she was strangled by her brother on Friday night after the two had an argument.
Her body was not discovered until Saturday morning, and her parents have been taken into custody by police in the matter.
“[Her] brothers had asked her to quit modelling,” family sources quoted by The Express Tribune said. The sources added that her brother, Wasim, had become upset over a series of controversial photos she had uploaded, and demanded they be taken down. He had threatened her about the photos, the sources reportedly said.
Wasim has not been arrested as police have not located him, they said.
Ms. Baloch appeared alongside a Muslim cleric in images uploaded onto social media
Baloch’s murder was immediately condemned by filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, whose documentary A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness won an Oscar earlier this year.
“I really feel that no woman is safe in this country, until we start making examples of people, until we start sending men who kill women to jail, unless we literally say there will be no more killing and those who dare will spend the rest of their lives behind bars,” she said in response to the news of Baloch’s death.
Some called her death “good news” and even praised her suspected killer. Others said it was wrong to condone her murder, even if she was flawed. Some showed outright support.
Baloch had been deemed the “Kim Kardashian of Pakistan,” because of her provocative selfies, pursuit of celebrity and controversial rise to notoriety.
In Pakistan, however, most women, especially the poor, still lack basic fundamental rights. From schooling to choosing a husband, the violence against women in Pakistan can only be described as downright rife. The country struggles with sexuality and especially with “immodest” women.
In a recent interview, Baloch was bitterly critical of Pakistan’s patriarchal society and described herself as a leading exponent of girl power.
