The brother of social media star Qandeel Baloch was on Friday sentenced to life in prison for her murder. Baloch, 26, who shot to fame for her risque selfies - tame by Western standards, but considered provocative in deeply misogynistic Pakistan - was strangled in July 2016. Her brother Muhammad Waseem was arrested. Days later he told a press conference that he had no remorse over what he did, saying that "of course" he had murdered his sister and that her behaviour had been "intolerable".
His lawyer, Sardar Mehboob, told AFP the court in Multan had found his client guilty and sentenced him to life imprisonment, in a long-awaited verdict. "Inshallah (God willing), he will be acquitted by a high court," he said. Five others were acquitted by the court, including cleric Mufti Abdul Qavi who had been embroiled in controversy with Baloch months ahead of her death. "We are distraught by this verdict. The government is still enslaved to the whites and is bowing to their rules," said Baloch's brother Aslam Shaheen, who was among the acquitted.
Earlier, Baloch's mother Anwar Mai told AFP she had hoped her son Waseem would also be acquitted. "He is innocent. She was my daughter and he is my son," she said. Three months after Baloch's murder, parliament passed new legislation mandating life imprisonment for honour killings.
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