Qandeel Baloch was murdered in cold blood in 2016 by her brother Waseem Azeem, she was a model who embraced fashion and lived a lifestyle that refuted Pakistan’s Islamic customs. It was because she didn’t abide by the fanatical mandates of hard-line Islamist tradition that she was drugged and then throttled by her brother in a so-called “honor killing”. Waseem who showed no remorse or regret for his actions was just acquitted after six years under Islamic law… by his and Qandeel’s parents under the Muslim jurisprudence that a victim’s family has the right to pardon their murderer. This legal loophole is credited with allowing these “honor killings” to continue with impunity.
In 2016 Waseem told the gathered press, *(translated)
“The reason was what she was doing on Facebook. We can’t tolerate this. I gave her a tablet and then strangled her. I did it. All alone.”
#Gravitas | #QandeelBaloch was Pakistan's first social media star. In 2016, she was murdered by her brother in the name of 'family honour'. Six years on, the brother has been acquitted. @palkisu tells you how Pakistan has failed the victim even in death pic.twitter.com/JacA3af9YU
— WION (@WIONews) February 15, 2022
Initially, Waseem Azeem was convicted of the murder and sentenced to life but has been fully acquitted. According to The Guardian, “The siblings’ mother, Anwar Bibi, welcomed the court order. “I am happy over the acquittal of my son, but we are still sad for our daughter’s loss,” she said. Baloch was killed after she posted photos of herself along with a Muslim cleric, Mufti Abdul Qawi who was also arrested for her murder, but later cleared when police said they couldn’t establish a link to the murder.
After Baloch’s murder sent shockwaves through Pakistan’s social circles, activists raised attention to the nearly 1,000 “honor killings” that take place in Pakistan each year and demanded action. In response, the Pakistani parliament passed legislation unanimously against “honor killings” that mandated life imprisonment, or at a minimum 25 years in prison, for convicted murderers “even if the victim’s relatives forgive them.”
Unfortunately, this reform came too late to impact Waseem’s case which was adjudicated under the law applicable at the time. As a result, in Pakistan today, a confessed, convicted, remorseless murderer is walking free as if nothing ever happened. Ostensibly forgiven by his parents for the brutal murder of his own sister, someone he with tragic irony should have been bound by honor… to protect.
