Honour killing: Pakistani model and social media sensation Qandeel Baloch ‘strangled by her brother’
Baloch offended many conservatives by posting pictures of herself with Mufti Qavi, a prominent cleric
A Pakistani social media celebrity whose selfies polarised the deeply conservative Muslim country has been murdered by her brother in a suspected honour killing, officials said Saturday, prompting shock and revulsion.
Qandeel Baloch, held up by many of the country’s youth for her willingness to break social taboos but condemned and reviled by traditional elements, was strangled near the city of Multan, police said.
“Qandeel Baloch has been killed, she was strangled to death by her brother, apparently it was an incident of honour killing,” Sultan Azam, senior police officer in Multan, said.
Baloch, believed to be in her twenties, had travelled with her family from the city of Karachi to Muzzafarabad village in central Punjab province for the recent Eid holiday.
Police were informed by her family that the killing took place on Friday night.
“The brother was also there last night and the family told us that he strangled her to death,” Azhar Akram, another senior police official in Multan said, confirming that officials suspected an honour killing. Police said the brother was now on the run.