The slain social media celebrity Qandeel Baloch has yet to get full justice even though a model court judge in Multan has sentenced to life her younger brother in her murder case, 38 months after the crime. Five other people, including Mufti Abdul Qavi, walked free of the charge even though the convict initially confessed to killing his sister at the instigation of his other brother and with the help of another accused. The Muzaffarabad police station of Multan challaned seven people, all nominated on the complaint of Mohammad Azeem, the father of the victim. They included Mohammad Waseem, Aslam Shaheen and Mohammad Arif (brothers of Qandeel), Haqnawaz, Abdul Basit, Mufti Qavi and Zaffar Hussain. The murder attracted nationwide outcry and condemnation. The police showed efficiency and arrested Waseem the very next day, who confessed to killing his sister Qandeel with the help of Haqnawaz. The ensuing investigation shed light on the role of Mufti Qavi, Arif, who is in Saudi Arabia, Zaffar, Basit and Haqnawaz through supplementary statements of the complainant while Wasim and Aslam Shaheen were the prime accused.
Initially, the complainant showed strong resolved to pursue the case till its logical conclusion. On August 21 this year, however, he announced pardoning his sons; this is what usually happens in honour related cases. The government of the day, on the pressure of civil society, had by the time passed anti-honour killing laws (criminal amendment bill) 2015, which disallow pardoning killers in honour cases. The judge did not pass on the concession to the accused and went ahead with the trial. Another twist in the case came when the police arrested Mufti Qavi after Azeem alleged that the cleric instigated his sons to kill Qandeel. The court acquitted five people of the charge and convicted Waseem while one brother is still at large.
The success of the case is that it has seen a conviction and the enactment of anti-honour killing laws. Hopefully, Qandeel’s case is the last one where someone attempted to forgive the killers or tried to forge compromise to benefit them. The court has rightly set a precedent to refuse to accept any pardon or compromise attempt in honour related case.
Qandeel Baloch challenged social norms when she was alive. In her death, she has struck another blow to the ugly tradition of honour killing. *