Qandeel murder trial put off amid lawyers strike
MULTAN – The brother of social media starlet Qandeel Baloch, who confessed to strangling his sister in a so-called ‘honour killing’ was due to be brought to court with two alleged accomplices on Thursday, but the trial was postponed because of lawyers’ strike.
The model was criticised by detractors who found her posts indecent, but fans praised her for daring to challenge social norms by appearing in videos that by Western standards would appear tame.
Waseem was set to be produced before a court in Multan on Thursday along with his cousin Haq Nawaz whom police deemed to be an accomplice, and Abdul Basit, a taxi driver.
The alleged nature of the accomplices’ involvement was unclear.
But Jam Salahuddin, the district prosecutor, said: “Six police witnesses were not able to record their statements because of the lawyers strike,” adding the accused were also not brought in for the same reason. The court has yet to announce its next date of hearing.
Some of Baloch’s more notorious acts included offering to perform a striptease for the Pakistan cricket team, and donning a plunging scarlet dress on Valentine’s Day.
She also posed for selfies with a high-profile mullah in an incident that saw him swiftly rebuked by the religious affairs ministry.
Salahuddin said the prosecution was urging the court to also indict the cleric, Mufti Abdul Qavi, for his role in allegedly inciting Qandeel’s killers.
“We want the court to indict those too who instigated the killers to kill her,” he said. Her murder reignited calls for action against so-called “honour killings”.
In October, parliament passed a law aimed at removing the ability to forgive “honour” killers. But critics contend some loopholes still exist.