Hundreds of women are murdered in Pakistan for honor every year. On Friday, Pakistani model and social media celebrity Qandeel Balock was killed by one of her brothers, police said.
Balock was spending the Ed holiday with her family and had travelled from Karachi to Muzaffarabad village in central Punjab province. She was asleep, police said, when one of her six brothers strangled Baloch to death in the family’s home.
“Qandeel Baloch has been killed, she was strangled to death by her bother. Apparently it was an incident of honor killing,” Sultan Azam, senior police officer in Multan, told AFP.
The brother, police said, is now on the run.
In Pakistan, people who kill for honor most of the time walk free due to the country’s law that allows the family of the victim to forgive the murderers—often a relative.
Baloch, real name is Fauzia Azeem, became known in 2014 after a video, in which she asks a man “How am I looking,” went viral. She provoked controversy. She offended conservatives when posted pictures of herself with Mufti Qavi, a well-known cleric.
Reports say Baloch enjoyed drinks and cigarettes with Qavi during the holy month of Ramadan where Muslims fast from dawn to dusk. Qavi denied the claim and said they only met to talk about teachings of Islam.
Baloch was also praised by young Pakistanis for breaking social taboos and condemning conservatives.
On earlier reports, she told AFP that “people are going crazy—especially girls” after on Valentine’s Day, she posted a video going against the president’s message to stay away from “western” influence. She was wearing a scarlet dress.
“I get so many calls where they [girls] tell me I’m their inspiration and they want to be like me, she said.
As of Saturday, news of the murder was trending on social media. Some condemning the killing calling for action, others saying “Someone had to do it.”
Baloch, according to reports, had talked about leaving Pakistan for safety reasons. She was receiving anonymous death threats. Honor killings are often see as punishment for going against traditions.
