18/07/2016
18/07/2016
MULTAN, Pakistan, July 17, (AFP): The brother of a murdered Pakistani celebrity said Sunday he is “not embarrassed” to have killed her, as Qandeel Baloch’s death reignited polarising calls for action against the “epidemic” of honour killings. The strangling of Baloch, judged by many in deeply conservative Muslim Pakistan as infamous for selfies and videos that by Western standards would appear tame, has prompted shock and revulsion.
“Yes of course, I strangled her,” B a l o c h ’ s brother Muhammad Wasim told reporters at a defiant press conference organised by police in the city of Multan early Sunday. “She was on the ground floor while our parents were asleep on the roof top,” he continued. “It was around 10.45 pm when I gave her a tablet... and then killed her.” Wasim said he acted alone. “I am not embarrassed at all over what I did,” he said
Intolerable
Hundreds of women are murdered for “honour” every year in Pakistan. The killers overwhelmingly walk free because of a law that allows the family of the victim to forgive the murderer -- who is often also a relative.
A vigil held late Saturday in Lahore was attended by dozens of mourners, while an online petition entitled “No Country for Bold Women” and demanding accountability over Baloch’s death had gained more than than 1,600 signatures Sunday.
A scathing editorial in Pakistan’s biggest English-language newspaper Dawn said her murder must serve as “impetus” for anti-honour killing legislation. It lauded Baloch for “breezily” pushing the boundaries of what Pakistan considers “acceptable” behaviour for women, saying her determination to live on her own terms was “in itself an act of courage”.
But many conservatives pushed back, with some echoing Wasim’s statement by arguing that her family would have had “no choice”. Baloch was buried early Sunday near her family home in southern Punjab. Some of Baloch’s more notorious acts included volunteering to perform a striptease for the Pakistani cricket team, and donning a plunging scarlet dress on Valentine’s Day.
Rebuked
“Qandeel was an extremely astute individual who knew that what she was doing was more than being the most loved bad girl of Pakistan,” columnist and activist Aisha Sarawari told AFP. Her killing “defines yet another setback for the women of our generation... This makes it harder for women. Period”. “Many in Pakistan have laid blame for her death on her bold and provocative public acts,” noted Benazir Jatoi, who works with the Aurat Foundation, a local NGO working on women’s legal and political empowerment. “Qandeel has put a face to the countless ordinary Pakistani women that are murdered because society has given carte blanche to men,” she added.