Pakistan: Brother murders sister for honour over her video blogging

(Multan) 26-year-old social media celebrity Fauzia Azeem, aka Qandeel Baloch, has been murdered by her brother because he objected to her social media blogs. Like a true follower of Islam who murdered his own, in which to regain his honour, he then did a runner in which to escape the hand of the law.

Qandeel Baloch shot to fame in conservative Pakistan by simply copying what other girls do in the West with their iPhones. However, as this is Pakistan, it didn’t go down too well. Yet the rank hypocrisy that permeates this country resulted in this vilified girl having hundreds of thousands of followers. The video below, whilst very tame, garnered over 300K views on YouTube. Yet is deemed to be... vulgar. Really?

Strangely enough, whilst so many pillared this girl as something of a spoiled brat, that couldn't be further from the truth. She was forced into a marriage at 17 against her will, and after 18 months she left. In Pakistan, that on its own is a death sentence. In a magazine article she explained herself:

I was 17 years old when my parents forced an uneducated man on me. The abuse I have been through… The kind of torture he has inflicted on me, you can’t even imagine. Why? Because I was cute, I was young. He was older than me. He didn’t trust me. I don’t know why. I couldn't connect with him on an intellectual level. Our ideas were very different. Then I had a child, so I sacrificed. I spent a year and a half with him. I told him I want to study. I want to complete my education, I want to get a job, I want to stand on my own two feet. But he never agreed. My family never supported me. I would say I don’t want to live with him, but they didn't support me. That man tried to throw acid on me. He said ‘I’ll burn your face because you’re so beautiful’. And today the media isn't giving me any credit for speaking about empowerment of women, girl power.

I was 17-18 when I got married. When I was 19 years old… I had a child within one year. Then there were fights, arguments, being violent with me. Then when my family didn't support me, I ran away and found support in Darul Aman (women’s shelter).

After that, I thought now I am capable of doing this on my own. I did a job, I completed my Matric and my Bachelors. I did a marketing job, I worked as a bus hostess, I did a lot of jobs, I struggled a lot. I got out from there. The first thing I did when I got out of Darul Aman was my Matric. Then I did my Bachelors privately, I kept doing it. I did quite few jobs, in Daewoo, in Lever Brothers. Quite a few jobs. Then after a while, I started working in showbiz.

I started from zero. Small fashion shows, small photoshoots. I’ve seen a lot. I’ve seen a lot of things up close. I married my sister off, I gave jahez (dowry) for her wedding, I tried to keep relations going with my family, I bought a house for them in Multan. My parents are settled in Multan, my house is there.

So let's get this right, a young girl, who was married off by her own family, who then didn't want anything to do with her, started out afresh, rebuilt her life, became very successful, she even bought a house for her parents, and yet when she returned home in which to visit her so called sick father, she was murdered by her own, in which to regain their honour, apparently over her latest video:

What a strange and warped society, where killing your own due to other people gossiping is deemed normal.