ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—Police arrested the brother of slain Pakistani internet starQandeel Baloch and said Sunday they plan to charge him with murder, in one of the most high-profile examples of so-called honor killings in the conservative country in recent years.
Ms. Baloch, who shot to fame in Pakistan over the past year, drew comparisons with Kim Kardashian for posting videos and photos online, where she had hundreds of thousands of followers. Ms. Baloch, whose real name was Fauzia Azeem, enraged many in largely traditional Pakistan, including many women, who said the content she posted online, especially her poses and clothes, were overly sexual and against Islamic and Pakistani norms.
Police announced at a press conference Sunday that they had arrested her brotherMuhammad Waseem, who appeared with them handcuffed. Mr. Waseem said at the event that he killed the 26-year-old Ms. Baloch because she had violated his family’s honor.
Police officials say they will formally charge him within three days, after completing the initial questioning. They said they will charge him for murder, and may add other charges. They said they will seek the maximum penalty. Murder carries the death penalty in Pakistan.
Officials said Mr. Waseem killed his sister, who described herself in a Facebook post as a feminist, late Friday night at their parents’ house in the central city of Multan, and then fled. He was arrested late Saturday in the city of Dera Ghazi Khan, around 80 kilometers (50 miles) west of Multan.
“She was posting videos on Facebook. We are Baloch people, we can’t tolerate that,” Mr. Waseem told journalists, referring to his ethnic group, one of the most conservative in Pakistan. “I gave her a [sedative] tablet and strangled her.”
“I’m not ashamed,” he said.
So-called “honor killings” claimed the lives of more than 1,000 women in Pakistan last year, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, an independent body. In many cases, male relatives murdered women they accused of “dishonoring” the family.
Women are under intense pressure to conform in Pakistan, especially in the way they dress and interact with society, analysts say. Ms. Baloch’s videos challenged those conventions. Earlier this year, she offered to striptease if the Pakistani cricket team defeated India.
Before her death Ms. Baloch said she was pushing the limits for all women in Pakistan, not just herself.
Qandeel Baloch in a photo from her Facebook page. PHOTO: REUTERS
“I am a social media sensation, I am a fashion icon,” she was quoted as saying in Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper this month. “I don’t know how many girls have felt support through my persona. I’m a girl power. So many girls tell me I’m a girl power, and yes, I am.”
She was quoted as saying she escaped an abusive arranged marriage when she was 19, then studied and held low-paying jobs to become financially independent before pursuing a career in show business.
“I believe I am a modern day feminist. I believe in equality. I need not to choose what type of women should be,” Ms. Baloch posted on her Facebook page Friday.
Last month, Ms. Baloch drew nationwide attention for appearing in a video with Abdul Qavi, a prominent Islamic cleric, in which she wore his cap and took selfies while sitting on the arm of his chair. Mr. Qavi’s appearance in the video was criticized by religious circles, and he was suspended from a religious panel.
Mr. Qavi on Saturday told Pakistani TV channel Dunya News he condemned her murder but added: “I have a message for women, for people, that they should keep this lady’s fate in mind and shouldn’t say things that insult religious scholars.”
Ms. Baloch’s brother said at the press conference Sunday that the increased attention on his family after the incident with Mr. Qavi was one of the reasons for killing her. Ms. Baloch’s real name was revealed by Pakistani media late last month, after her photos with the cleric were released.
Despite criticism from religious and conservative circles, some Pakistanis praised Ms. Baloch on social media for railing against Pakistani society’s restrictions on women.
“Qandeel was defiant & courageous, she claimed online spaces & offline spaces—she made sure that her presence was felt & that she was heard,” tweeted rights activist Nighat Dad.
Ms. Baloch had spoken of threats to her life. At a news conference last month, she asked the government to provide security, and said she was thinking about leaving Pakistan.
“She was a lion. I ask everyone to pray for her,” Ms. Baloch’s father Muhammad Azeemsaid Saturday. “I want justice.”
Rights groups have demanded swift investigations and punishments in the wake of several high-profile honor killings this year.
Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, who made an Oscar-winning film about honor killings in Pakistan, said the case again showed the need for new legislation. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, after watching the documentary, promised earlier this year to tighten laws to help stop such attacks.
Islamic provisions in Pakistani law allow the family of an honor-killing victim to forgive the killer, which critics say allows perpetrators, who are often family members, to escape punishment. Zahid Hamid, the law minister, told The Wall Street Journal in an interview earlier this month that the government would soon introduce amendments to the law in parliament to close this loophole.
Write to Saeed Shah at saeed.shah@wsj.com
