One of the most glamorous and famous women in modern Pakistan, Qandeel Baloch, who shot to fame as a social media celebrity in the country and in South Asia, has been killed by her brother in what appears to be a case of honour killing. Her brother Waseem Azeem was presented by the police at a press conference, where he openly cofessed to killing his sister since he did not approve of the raunchy photographs and videos that she uploaded of herself to different social media websites. Needless to say, the incident has plunged a considerable section of Pakistani society into utter shock.
According to a report on USA Today, "Police say the brother of a social media celebrity in Pakistan confessed to killing her after she stirred controversy by posting racy photos and posing with a prominent Muslim cleric, saying she had besmirched the family name. Waseem Azeem, who was accompanied by police, confessed in a news conference on Saturday to drugging and strangling his sister, 26-year-oldQandeel Baloch. He said that through her risque videos and social media posts "she brought dishonour to the Baloch name," the local newspaper Dawn reported. Baloch died Friday when one of her six brothers strangled her to death as she slept in the family's home in the province of Punjab, police said."
"Apparently the lady died of suffocation, but final opinion on her death would be possible only after report of chemical examination comes. She might have been given some poisonous substance before being strangled.", said one of the persons who had been part of the team that conducted the autopsy. The report on USA Today further added, "Baloch, whose real name was Fauzia Azeem, shot to fame and notoriety with a series of social media postings that would be tame by Western standards but were deeply scandalous by conservative Pakistani societal norms. She cultivated an outrageous public persona, recently promising to perform a public striptease if the Pakistani cricket team won a major tournament. Baloch had a large following of more than 700,000 people on her official Facebook page. She posted recently she was "trying to change the typical orthodox mindset of people who don't wanna come out of their shells of false beliefs and old practices."
