Qandeel Baloch murder: Brother arrested, says killed her for bringing disrepute to family

NEW DELHI: Mohammad Waseem, the brother of slain social media celebrity Qandeel Baloch was arrested by Multan police in on Saturday. He is accused of strangling his sister to death at her residence in Multan on Saturday. Waseem confessed in a press conference that he had drugged and strangled his sister. “I have no regret on what I did as she brought dishonour to the Baloch name," he said. "She wasn't aware I was killing her," he said. "I gave her a tablet and then strangled her," Dawn news quoted Waseem as saying. Baloch's raunchy social media photos challenged social norms in Pakistan. She received multiple death threats and suffered frequent misogynist abuse but continued posting provocative pictures and videos. In Facebook posts, she spoke of trying to change "the typical orthodox mindset" of people in Pakistan. Punjab police spokesperson Nabeela Ghazanfar said Baloch, whose real name was Fauzia Azeem, was killed on Friday night at her family home on the outskirts of Multan in Punjab province. Baloch's body was found today and her father Muhammad Azeem told the police that his son Waseem had strangled her, Ghazanfar said. Baloch's father had told local media his son had stayed overnight at the family home and quarrelled with Baloch over money and her risque photos. "He had serious reservations regarding her pictures being circulated on social media," Muhammad Azeem told reporters in Multan. "He had escaped after strangling Qandeel." Earlier this year, Baloch had offered to strip if the wildly popular Pakistani cricket team beat India. When they lost, she berated the Pakistani cricketers and posted a video in which she danced for the Indian team wearing a bikini. Baloch had struggled to reconcile her family's conservative values with her social media stunts, including the selfie with the cleric that led to widespread condemnation from powerful religious figures. In the days before her death, she had told local media she was concerned about her safety. Last month, the federal minister for religious affairs had suspended the cleric, Mufti Abdul Qavi, from a committee that is responsible for sighting the new moon to determine important dates for the Islamic lunar calendar, the Dawn had reported. The suspension came a few days after Baloch had uploaded the selfies with Qavi. In a video of the meeting, Qavi can be seen saying he would guide Baloch on spiritual and religious issues and that she has agreed to follow his instructions, according to Dawn. Baloch's death sparked an outpouring of grief on Twitter and other social media websites and re-ignited a debate about honour killings in Pakistan. More than 500 people - almost all women - die in Pakistan each year in such killings, usually carried out by members of the victim's family, for bringing "shame" on the community. Baloch had built a modelling career on the back of her social media fame. She recently appeared in a music video, gyrating to an Urdu song in high heels and a see-through top. Though popular with many liberals, Baloch often struggled with the frequent abuse aimed at her. In one Facebook post this month, she thanked her supporters for "understanding the message I try to convey through my bold posts and videos". She added: "It's time to bring a change because the world is changing." After her death, #QandeelBaloch began trending on Twitter in Pakistan, with many people offering support for her efforts to make Pakistan a more liberal society for women. Others, however, could not hide their delight that she had been silenced. "What she (was) doing is a disgrace for Pakistan so she deserve this," said Twitter user Asad Iqbal Orakzai