{UAH} "I was determined either to kill myself or kill her." SHOCKING PAKISTAN HONOUR SLAUGHTER

Jabby,

See what the toxic mix of Islamic fundamentalism, patriachy, primitive
cultures and traditions and backwardness produces. It produces
barbarism of this kind almost on an industrial scale in much of Muslim
Asia.

Bobby.



Who was Qandeel Baloch, the Pakistani social media star murdered in
apparent 'honour killing' July 19 2016 - 11:39AM
Jessica Contrera

"I was determined either to kill myself or kill her."

This was the explanation a Pakistani social media star's brother gave
reporters on Sunday when he confessed to strangling her to death.

Pakistani star's brother admits strangling her

'No regrets' says the brother of Qandeel Baloch, who admits killing
his controversial sister to save his family's honour.

"Money matters," he continued, "but family honour is more important."

The brother confirmed what the reports suspected: Qandeel Baloch, 26,
died in an "honour killing", a murder of a woman who has brought
"shame" to her family. Baloch's name and photo spread across the news,
bringing her a notoriety in death she had been seeking in life. She
was far from a household name in the United States, but her prominence
in Pakistan - and the controversy around it - was beginning to gain
attention around the world.

No, we don't need to come up with a new word for 'honour killing'

Qandeel Baloch knew her critics would 'keep on hating'

Baloch, whose real name is Fauzia Azeem, first caught the public's eye
in an audition for Pakistan Idol, a singing competition show spun off
of American Idol. She didn't win, or even make it past the first
audition in front of the three judges. But the fit she had upon
hearing the news of her rejection was enough to launch the video on
Facebook, where she was mostly mocked for her reaction.

In the age of social media, those five minutes of fame can be
leveraged - soon enough, Baloch was attracting thousands of fans to
her Instagram, Facebook and Twitter accounts, where she regularly
posted pictures and videos of herself. They were risque: Often she can
be seen laying in a bed, wearing bold red lipstick or baring her
cleavage.

Such a manoeuvre would hardly make most social media-savvy Americans
bat an eye. But in Pakistan, a country with strict conservative values
- especially for women - Baloch was shocking. She was called every
slut-shaming name in the book, from people who were just annoyed with
her self-involvement to those deeply offended by her show of
sexuality.

In her mind, she was taking a stand for women.


Pakistani social media celebrity Qandeel Baloch was allegedly
murdered by her brother. Photo: Twitter @QandeelQuebee "I am an
inspiration to those ladies who are treated badly by society," she
once said. "I will keep on achieving and I know you will keep on
hating."

Perhaps her persistence was the product of her unsettling past, of
which her fans and critics only recently learned. When she was 17, she
was forced to marry a much older man who she claims was abusive. They
had a son together.


Pakistani police officers present Waseem Azeem, the brother of slain
model Qandeel Baloch, before the media following his arrest at a
police station in Multan, Pakistan. Photo: AP

"The kind of torture he has inflicted on me, you can't even imagine,"
she told the lifestyle magazine of Pakistan's Dawn newspaper.

Her former husband denies these claims. Baloch eventually left him,
and was estranged from her son. This revelation made waves, but it was
another recent scandal that seemed to lead to her killing.

They said they were meeting for iftar, the meal that breaks a day of
fasting during Ramadan. Abdul Qavi claimed he was there to discuss the
teachings of Islam with Baloch. But the Pakistani government punished
him, removing him from the committee that decides when Ramadan begins
and ends. Baloch felt the backlash on social media. She petitioned the
government to provide her with security because of all the death
threats she was receiving.


Relatives and local residents carry the coffin of slain model Qandeel
Baloch for funeral prayers in Shah Sadar Din village, near Dera Ghazi
Khan, Pakistan. Photo: AP Little did she know, the real threat was in
her own family. Though they seem like a relic of a far-ago time,
"honour killings" are still rampant in Baloch's country. An estimated
1000 Pakistani women are killed this way every year. In June, a father
lit his daughter on fire because she eloped. When a 19-year-old
schoolteacher refused to marry a man twice her age, she too was burned
alive. In May, 14 tribal leaders were arrested for burning a teenage
girl to death - not because she eloped, but because she helped her
friend do so.

Baloch's younger brother, Waseem Azeem, said his motivation was the
taunting and embarrassment his sister brought upon their family. He
covertly slipped her a sedative, then strangled her.

Many honour killings go unpunished because the law in Pakistan
allows for a victim's family to pardon her killer. But on Monday,
police changed the type of report registered in Baloch's death,
according to Dawn. Now her case will "be taken as a murder against the
state", meaning her family cannot stop the government from prosecuting
her brother.

Meanwhile, the cleric who appeared in Baloch's selfies is saying her
death is a warning for those who humiliate clerics like she did.

"People should realise that religious clerics are the pious face of
Islam," he said in the New Indian Express. "They should not dare to
play with their reputation or try to malign them otherwise they will
face the curse of God."

Washington Post

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