‘Kim Kardashian’ Of Pakistan, Qandeel ?Baloch, Killed By Brother In Honor Killing
A celebrity who was known as “Pakistan’s Kim Kardashian” was drugged and strangled in an honor killing allegedly carried out by her own brother in her family’s home near Multan.
The Kim Kardashian lookalike, whose real name was Fauzia Azeem, was 26-years-old. She chose the name Qandeel Baloch as her Facebook and Instagram handles and became a celebrity for her provocative social media posts. The Kim Kardashian doppelganger was encouraged by some people for breaking social taboos, but others were outraged, according to Dunya News Network.
Although Baloch’s selfies and videos wouldn’t appear so offensive by Western standards, conservative Pakistan Muslims were offended. Some of her most controversial moments occurred when she volunteered to perform a striptease for the Pakistani cricket team, wearing a plunging scarlet dress on Valentine’s Day, and posing for selfies with a high-profile mullah. He was rebuked by Pakistan’s religious affairs ministry.
Pakistan’s Kim Kardashian gained thousands of followers, and just hours after she put pictures up on her social media accounts, she was drugged and strangled to death in the home that she shared with her parents, according to the Daily Beast.
Baloch’s brother, Muhammad Wasim, was arrested for drugging and strangling his sister in a so-called honor killing.
He confessed to killing the social media celebrity, saying, “Yes, of course, I strangled her.”
During a press conference organized by the police, Wasim described how he killed Qandeel Baloch.
“She was on the ground floor while our parents were asleep on the roof top. It was around 10:45 p.m. when I gave her a tablet…and then killed her,” Wasim admitted.
“I am not embarrassed at all over what I did,” the brother of the slain woman admitted, saying that Baloch’s actions were “intolerable.”
In Pakistan, it is not unusual for a killer who killed out of “honor” to walk free. While hundreds of women are killed in the name of “honor” every year in Pakistan, a law allows families of victims to forgive murderers. Once that happens, the murders can walk free. Often in these honor killings, the murder is often a relative and will be forgiven in Pakistan.
Although she received criticism for showing some cleavage or wearing makeup on her social media photos, Qandeel Baloch was determined to break the societal norms that she believed were holding women back in Pakistan.
One day before she was killed, on July 14, she posted her personal beliefs.
“As a woman we must stand up for ourselves. I believe I am a modern day feminist. I believe in equality… I don’t think there is any need to label ourselves just for sake of society.”
The day she died, July 15, she thanked her followers on Twitter for their support and posted a link to a video in which she appeared.
“BAN” Video getting awesome response from all over the World..Thanks Supporters for Your Unconditional Love <3 <3… https://t.co/oVn9OYXsrc
— Qandeel Baloch (@QandeelQuebee) July 15, 2016
As for her brother, he said, “I was determined either to kill myself or kill her,” after being taunted about the photos his sister posted online.
Although his sister brought in the most money for the family to survive, Wasim did not care about his sister’s willingness to help the family.
“Money matters, but family honor is more important,” Wasim said.
According to CBS News, regional police chief Sultan Taimuri said authorities will seek the maximum punishment for Wasim.
In the meantime, Baloch was buried in Pakistan on Sunday. At the time of her death, Qandeel Baloch had 40,000 followers on Twitter and 700,000 on Facebook.
[Photo by M. Jameel/AP Images]
