Pakistani social media celebrity strangled by her brother

Qandeel Baloch recently caused controversy by posting photos of herself with a prominent cleric.

Qandeel Baloch, pictured here on June 28, 2016, shot to fame in Pakistan in 2014 after a video of her pouting at the camera and asking “How em looking?” went viral. AFP

LAHORE // A Pakistani social media celebrity whose selfies and videos caused controversy in the conservative country has been murdered by her brother in what police suspect was an honour killing.

“Qandeel Baloch has been killed, she was strangled to death by her brother, apparently it was an incident of honour killing,” Sultan Azam, a senior police officer in the Multan district of Punjab province, said on Saturday.

She had travelled with her family from Karachi to the village of Muzzafarabad for Eid Al Fitr. Police were informed by Baloch’s family that she had been killed by her brother there on Friday night.

The brother is now on the run.

Baloch, whose real name was Fauzia Azeem and is believed to have been in her twenties, shot to fame in Pakistan in 2014 after a video of her pouting at the camera and asking “How em looking?” went viral.

Held up by many of the country’s youth for her liberal views and forthrightness, she was also reviled by many and frequently subject to misogynist abuse online.

Most recently, she offended many conservatives by posting pictures of herself with a prominent cleric, Mufti Qavi, and saying the two of them had enjoyed soft drinks and cigarettes together in the daytime during Ramadan.

The pictures and allegations caused a scandal in Pakistan, and the government removed the mufti from the official moon-sighting committee that determines when Ramadan starts and ends.

Baloch had said Mr Qavi told her he wanted to see her face before the committee met to determine the Eid holiday.

The mufti denied the allegations, saying he only met with her to discuss the teachings of Islam.

On Valentine’s Day, she donned a plunging scarlet dress and posted a video message defying the country’s president, who had issued a stern warning against the “western” celebration. The post garnered more than 70,000 likes.

“People are going crazy – especially girls. I get so many calls where they tell me I’m their inspiration and they want to be like me,” she said at the time.

Baloch had reportedly spoken of leaving the country after Eid out of fear for her safety and earlier this month sought protection from the government, saying she was receiving anonymous death threats.

Hundreds of Pakistani woman are murdered by family members each year in so-called honour killings, which are seen as punishment for violating conservative norms.

The killers often walk free because of a law that allows relatives of the victim to forgive the murderer.

Filmmaker Sharmeemn Obaid-Chinoy, whose documentary on honour killings, A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness, won an Oscar earlier this year, slammed Baloch's murder as symptomatic of an "epidemic" of violence against women in Pakistan.

News of the murder was trending on social media in Pakistan, with liberal users calling for action, but some conservatives – including users identified as women – condemning Baloch’s relentless self-promotion.

In one typical comment, Twitter user @JiaAli wrote: “Someone had to do it. She was a disgrace.”

But Facebook user Zaair Hussain said: “RIP Qandeel Baloch. You made us laugh, and you made us applaud ... I think history will remember you as a provocateur, a living exhibit, a larger than life role – just as you would want to be remembered.”

* Agence France-Presse and Associated Press