The brother of controversial Pakistani social media star Qandeel Baloch has confessed to killing her “for honour”, say police.
Baloch, 26, described herself as a modern-day feminist, was vocal on social media about trying to change the “typical orthodox mindset” in Pakistan.
Wasim murdered his sister due to her provocative online posts, most recently with prominent Muslim cleric, Abdul Qavi.
“The police arrested Muhammad Wasim, brother of Qandeel Baloch, for killing his sister late on Saturday,” said Multan City police chief Azhar Akram, according to the ABC.
“Wasim confessed to his crime, saying he killed his sister for honour after her recent objectionable videos, mostly posted on Facebook.”
Wasim told police he drugged his sister and then strangled her, police said.
“Yes of course, I strangled her,” Wasim said at a press conference, organised by police. “She was on the ground floor while our parents were asleep on the roof top. It was around 10.45pm when I gave her a tablet … and then killed her.”
“I am not embarrassed at all over what I did. Whatever was the case, it (his sister’s behaviour) was completely intolerable.”
Just days before her death, Baloch, who had 758,000 followers on Facebook, wrote a post on equaity and standing up for women’s rights.
“As a women we must stand up for ourselves..As a women we must stand up for each other…As a women we must stand up for justice,” she wrote.
“I believe I am a modern day feminist. I believe in equality. I need not to choose what type of women should be. I don’t think there is any need to label ourselves just for sake of society. I am just a women with free thoughts free mindset and I LOVE THE WAY I AM.”
Baloch was one of the country’s few female internet celebrities and while many admired her defiance, many found her “crass and vulgar”.
“Qandeel was probably the first true female internet celebrity in Pakistan, in that her celebrity had nothing to do with any achievement beyond her provocative presence on social media,” Pakistani filmmaker and media critic Hasan Zaidi told the NY Times.
“It was unfathomable to a lot of Pakistanis that a real woman could be as brazen or shameless about her sexuality publicly, because her entire persona was built around flaunting her body, talking about sex and being in everyone’s face.”
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