Pakistani cleric arrested over involvement in "honor killing" of model

Portia Arthur

October 19, 2017 11:04 AM

Pakistani police say they have arrested a Muslim cleric for alleged involvement in the 2016 murder of social media model Qandeel Baloch

Kim Kardashian, Qandeel Baloch.

These females are famous for sharing explicit photos online earning them mass social media followers.

Pakistan model and social media celebrity, Fouzia Azeem, better known by the name Qandeel Baloch was strangled in July 2016 to death in her house in Multan's Karimabad area, 350-km from Lahore, on July 16, 2016, after posting jaw-dropping photos online.

Unfortunately for the family, her own brother, Muhammad Waseem and a cousin confessed to the killing in the name of honour.

Waseem said he drugged Qandeel Baloch before strangling her.

"She brought dishonour to the Baloch name due to her risque videos and statements posted on social media," he had said.

Prior to her death, Qandeel Baloch spoke of worries about her safety and had appealed to the interior ministry to provide her with security. No help was provided by the ministry.

In a new development, police have arrested Muhammad’s alibi, a high profile Muslim cleric for his alleged role in the murder of the 26-year-old.

A former member of the moon-sighting committee Mufti Abdul Qavi was present in the court to seek an extension of his bail in the Qandeel murder case but the court did not grant him the extension and ordered his arrest.

Interestingly, he managed to flee the premises with the help of Sub-Inspector Noor Akbar of Muzzafarabad police station.

According to the police, Qavi was later tracked through his mobile phone while he was ‘escaping’ to Jhang and taken into custody on Multan-Jhang highway.

Prosecutor Ziaur Rehman told the judge that Mufti’s phone records showed he had been in touch with Waseem after he was embroiled in controversy with Baloch earlier last year.

Mufti was sacked from his position on a government committee and rebuked by a religious affairs council after Baloch released pictures of herself with him in a hotel room weeks before her murder, wearing his hat and pouting.

She later called Qavi a 'blot on the name of Islam' and accused him of inappropriate behaviour.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Qavi’s lawyer Rana Mehboob Alam, said his client was not escaping but going to Jhang to attend a funeral. He said they would move the Lahore High Court Multan bench for his bail.

The killing of women relatives in the name of honour is a menace still prevalent in many parts of Pakistan. More than 1,000 women are killed every year by their relatives on the pretext of defending what is seen as a family honour.

Portia Arthur