Brother who murdered ‘Pakistan’s Kim Kardashian’ receives life sentence for ‘honor killing’ that shook the nation

A Pakistani court docket has sentenced the brother of Qandeel Baloch to life in jail, three years after he murdered the social media star. The high-profile case prompted a crackdown on so-called ‘honor killings’ within the nation.

Mohammad Waseem Baloch was discovered responsible of drugging and strangling his sister in July 2016. Six different defendants, together with spiritual scholar Mufti Abdul Qavi and Qandeel’s different two brothers, Aslam Shaheen and Arif, had been acquitted within the case.

Wassem had initially confessed to killing his sister, arguing that she had introduced disgrace to his household along with her boundary-pushing social media presence.

Dubbed the Kim Kardashian of Pakistan, Qandeel, whose actual identify was Fauzia Azeem, had greater than 750,000 Fb subscribers, some 51,000 followers on Instagram, and about 43,000 Twitter followers. The 26-year-old rose to prominence by posting content material that was typically deemed taboo in her socially conservative homeland.

Life has taught me classes in a early age…My Journey from a lady to a SELF DEPENDENT WOMEN was not simple.#Qandeel pic.twitter.com/Mwyn4UC32z

— Qandeel Baloch (@QandeelQuebee) July 14, 2016

The case garnered worldwide consideration because of a weird authorized loophole in Pakistan, which allowed those that commit a so-called ‘honor-killing’ to stroll free if they’re forgiven by the sufferer’s household.

Uproar over the chance that Qandeel’s killers would possibly stroll free prompted new anti-honor-killing laws, which mandated a minimal of 12 years for such crimes.

Qandeel’s father, Muhammad Azeem, had initially introduced expenses towards his sons, stating that he can be glad in the event that they “hanged for his or her unforgivable crime.” The mother and father later forgave their sons, and argued that the brand new honor-killing legislation couldn’t be applied retroactively to the case.

Regardless of worldwide outcry over Qandeel’s homicide, ladies in Pakistan proceed to be killed by family members for allegedly ‘dishonoring’ their households. In line with one estimate, there have been greater than 15,000 honor killings – carried out towards each women and men – between 2004 and 2016.

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