–Sessions court rejects bail plea of Qandeel Baloch’s brother Waseem
MULTAN/ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry on Saturday stressed that honour killings should be treated as “Fasad-Fil-Arz”, calling upon the Punjab government to reject compromises, including the accused’s apology, as a sessions court rejected the bail plea of Qandeel Baloch’s brother Waseem, who was booked for the murder of the social media celebrity in 2016.
Qandeel, a social media celebrity, was drugged and then asphyxiated allegedly by her brother M Waseem while she was asleep at her parents’ home in Multan. Her death was reported by her father Azeem.
The additional session judge on Saturday turned down bail plea of the main accused who had accused police of implicating him in the case with malafide intentions, terming his detention unjustified.
Qandeel’s brother stated that the court’s decision had been delayed, adding that keeping him in the prison prior to the verdict was not judicious.
Meanwhile, Qandeel’s parents submitted their affidavits in the court in which they ‘forgave’ the accused and consented to his release.
Waseem, Qandeel’s brother, had fled the scene at the time of the murder and later recorded his statement before the magistrate under Section 164.
He had also confessed to his crime with the DNA and forensic report, confirming his involvement in the murder of his sister.
‘REJECT COMPROMISES, APOLOGY’:
Later in the day, Information Minister Fawad said, “Such cases must be treated as Fasad-Fil-Arz in the interest of Public. Court must reject such compromises and proceed under the law, I call upon Punjab Govt to take full ownership of the case, accused must be punished,” he tweeted.
Such cases must be treated as #Fasad-Fil-Arz in the interest of Public, Court must reject such compromises and proceed under the law, I call upon Punjb Govt to take full ownership of the case, accused must be punished pic.twitter.com/2Klp11NvJS
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) September 29, 2018
It is worth mentioning that in July 2017, Qandeel’s father Azeem Baloch said he had not forgiven his son. He had recommended strict punishment for his son according to law.
Qandeel Baloch had first received recognition from the media in 2013, when she auditioned for Pakistan Idol. She was one of the top 10 most searched for persons on the internet in Pakistan and both celebrated and criticised for the content of her videos and posts.
She rose to prominence after her videos on social networking sites in which she discussed her daily routine and various controversial issues.
