ISLAMABAD: Interpol on Thursday night arrested the wanted brother of Qandeel Baloch, her lawyer said on Friday, ending a three-year chase for a man nominated in the 2016 ‘honor killing’ of the Pakistani social media sensation.
Baloch, an avowed feminist whose raunchy photos posted online challenged social norms in Pakistan, was found strangled in July 2016 at her parents’ home in Muzaffargarh, a village near the city of Multan in eastern Punjab province.
Her death drew renewed attention to the practice, widespread in Pakistan, of relatives killing women thought to have brought shame on their family.
Baloch’s brother Muhammad Waseem confessed to the killing and said he gave a “tablet” to Baloch to subdue her and then strangled her in their family home over the weekend. He was abetted by another brother Muhammad Arif who has since been on the run.
Nighat Dad, the lawyer for Baloch’s parents, said in a Twitter post on Friday: “Have some good news, Qandeel’s brother Arif who was nominated in FIR under 109 PPC & was living in Saudi Arabia, avoiding the arrest for almost 3 years have been arrested by Interpol last night. He abetted in Qandeel’s murder, urged Waseem (brother) to kill her.”
Baloch received frequent online abuse including death threats before her murder but refused to back down, writing in one Facebook post about changing “the typical orthodox mindset” of people in Pakistan.
Baloch had struggled to reconcile her family’s conservative values with her social media stunts, including a selfie with a famous Muslim 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.
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 meting out punishment for bringing “shame” on the community.
