A Pakistani social media celebrity, whose bold photo shoots and selfies made her highly controversial, has been murdered by her brother in a suspected honor killing, officials said Saturday, prompting shock and revulsion.
Qandeel Baloch, condemned by conservatives, was strangled near the city of Multan, police said.
“Qandeel Baloch has been killed, she was strangled to death by her brother. Apparently it was an incident of honor killing,” Sultan Azam, senior police officer in Multan, said.
Baloch, believed to be in her twenties and whose real name was Fauzia Azeem, had traveled with her family to Muzaffarabad village in central Punjab province for the Eid holiday.
She was killed there Friday, police said, adding that the brother, Wasim, was now on the run.
“My daughter was innocent, we are innocent, we want justice, why was my daughter killed?” Baloch’s father Azeem Ahmad told reporters there.
Police later registered a murder case against her brother based on her father’s written complaint, in which he accused his son of killing his daughter for honor because “his son wanted her to quit showbiz.”
News of the murder was trending on social media in Pakistan, with liberal users praising Baloch’s bravery, but some conservatives — including users identified as women — condemning her relentless self-promotion.
In one typical comment, Twitter user @JiaAli wrote: “Someone had to do it. She was a disgrace.”
But Facebook user Zaair Hussain said: “RIP Qandeel Baloch. You made us laugh, and you made us applaud,” adding that history would remember her as a “provocateur.”

Source: Arab News