ISLAMABAD: Parliamentary Secretary for Law Maleeka Bokhari on Saturday asserted that the state was reviewing options in the light of laws and Supreme Court judgements in the murder case of social media star Qandeel Baloch, whose brother and murderer was acquitted by the Lahore High Court (LHC).
Taking to Twitter, Maleeka Bokhari said, “The state is undertaking a review of legal options in the Qandeel Baloch case in light of law & SC judgments.”
Maleeka maintained that honour killings of women and girls were a “black mark on our society”, and that the law had been amended to ensure that the murderer[s] of women “whether a celebrity or ordinary woman” did not walk free.
The State is undertaking a review of legal options in the Qandeel Baloch case in light of law & SC judgments. Honour killings of women & girls is a black mark on our society. Law was amended to ensure murderer of women, whether a ‘celebrity’ or ordinary woman does not walk free
— Maleeka Bokhari (@MalBokhari) February 19, 2022
Meanwhile, the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) has also announced plans to appeal the verdict before the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Before her murder in 2016, Baloch became famous for her posts that were deemed suggestive and immoral by many in the country.
Qandeel had posted Facebook posts in which she spoke of trying to change “the typical orthodox mindset” of people in Pakistan. She faced frequent abuse and death threats but continued to post pictures and videos seen as provocative.
In 2016, her brother Muhammad Waseem drugged and then killed her, later admitting in a media conference organised by the police that he strangled his 26-year-old sister due to her social media activities.
Her killing sent shockwaves across the country and triggered an outpouring of grief on social media, spurring the government to tighten laws dealing with men who would kill a close relative in the name of family honour.
Last week, the LHC acquitted the prime suspect and brother of model Qandeel Baloch in her murder case, abolishing the life imprisonment awarded to him by a sessions court.
The LHC’s Multan bench cancelled life imprisonment of the accused after witnesses deviated from their statements in the trial court and Qandeel’s mother submitted a reconciliation agreement stipulating parental pardon.
