Court frees man convicted of killing sister

An Appeal Court in Pakistan has discharged and acquitted a 38-year-old man, Muhammad Waseem, who was convicted for killing his sister, Qandeel Baloch, in an ‘honour killing’ case in 2016.

Waseem had admitted in a media conference organised by the police that he had strangled his 26-year-old social media star sister due to her activities, which he felt was bringing disgrace to the family.

But in 2019, Wassem had filed an appeal against his murder conviction and life sentence.

An Islamic scholar, Mufti Abdul Qawi, who was also arrested for his alleged involvement in the murder, was later freed as police said they could not establish a link to the murder.

“He has been fully acquitted by a court in the eastern city of Multan,” Waseem’s lawyer, Sardar Mehboob, was quoted as saying outside the court without giving further details, while a government prosecutor also confirmed the acquittal.

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Waseem’s mother had also submitted a statement in the court that she had pardoned him, though it was not clear whether the court considered the mother’s statement in its decision.

Shortly before Waseem killed Baloch who had built a reputation as a fast rising model, she had allegedly made a post on Facebook in which she spoke of trying to change “the typical orthodox mindset” of people in Pakistan after she had received a deluge of abuses and death threats but continued to post pictures and videos which were seen as provocative.

Her killing had sent shockwaves across Pakistan and triggered an outpouring of grief on social media, spurring the government to tighten laws dealing with men who would kill a close relative in the name of family honour.