Pakistani court rejects bail plea of main accused of Qandeel Baloch murder case

A Pakistani court has rejected the bail plea of the prime accused Muhammad Waseem in the Qandeel Baloch murder case.

The 26-year-old Qandeel became a sensation in Pakistan after her risque posts on social media garnered attention. She was found death in her house in Multan's Karimabad area, about 350 km from here, in July 2016.

Her younger brother, Waseem, had confessed to police that he had killed Qandeel, whose real name was Fauzia Azeem, for disgracing the family honour.

On Friday, additional district and sessions' court judge Iqbal Dogar rejected the Waseem's bail plea, in which he had said that the police implicated him in the case with malafide intention.

"The case has been pending for more than two years, and would take a long time to wind up, so keeping him in jail till the decision of the case was unjustified," Waseem's lawyer had said in the plea.

He further argued that the recording of statements of witnesses is at its initial stage and as per some decisions of the superior courts his client is titled to bail as police has not yet made recovery (of murder weapon) from him.

An affidavit by the deceased's father, who is also the complainant in the case, was also submitted before the court, informing it that he has pardoned the accused (his son) and that he will have no objection to his son's release on bail.

The prosecution argued that the hearing of the case has been adjourned several times on the request of defence counsels, so the complainant side was not responsible for any delay in the decision of the case.

"Suspect Waseem had recorded his statement before the area magistrate under section 164 confessing killing of Qandeel. The results of the DNA and forensic reports also confirmed his involvement in her murder," the prosecutor said.

In his written statement, Waseem said he had drugged Qandeel before strangling her.

"She brought dishonour to the Baloch name due to her risque videos and statements posted on social media," he said.

Qandeel spoke of worries about her safety and had appealed to the interior ministry to provide her with security. No help was provided by the ministry.

Killing of women relatives in the name of honour is still prevalent in many parts of Pakistan. More than 1,000 women are killed every year by their relatives on the pretext of defending the family honour.