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TORONTO: Human rights and social activist Karima Baloch was found dead in Toronto, Canada, a day after she went missing.
She had gone missing on Sunday, and her family later confirmed that the activist’s body had been found. According to local media, the police found her body drowned off an island just near Toronto’s lakeshore. Her husband, Hammal Haider, and brother have identified her body.
Karima was a Canadian refugee and named as one of the world’s 100 most “inspirational and influential” women in 2016 by a British outlet and was known as one of the strongest voices of Baloch people abroad.
In a similar pattern, another Pakistani dissident journalist Sajid Hussain was found dead in Sweden earlier his year. He also went missing before his body was found.
Karima was among the thousands of Baloch human rights activists who have sought political asylum in Canada. Last week, hundreds of Baloch activists on social media played video clips of Karima’s speech where she had raised an alarm about the harassment of Baloch dissidents settled in Canada.
In 2016, Karima Baloch raised controversy when she appealed to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to become the voice of the Baloch struggle, days after he had raised the Balochistan issue in his speech. Karima had been a harsh critic of the Pakistan Army after settling down in Canada and a vocal separatist.
