The brother of Pakistani social media celebrity, Qandeel Baloch, has confessed to killing her because of the provocative images she posted on social media.
Muhammad Waseem was arrested late Saturday, and confessed to drugging then strangling his sister in apparent “honour killing”.
The incident occurred in the province of Punjab on Friday.
Up to 100 officers were gathered outside the family’s home in Muzzafarabad, preventing neighbours from gathering. Five ambulances were also parked nearby.
“Yes of course, I strangled her,” Waseem said at a press conference, organised by police, early Sunday.
“She was on the ground floor while our parents were asleep on the roof top.
“It was around 10.45 pm when I gave her a tablet… and then killed her.”
Waseem said he acted alone.
He added: “I am not embarrassed at all over what I did. Whatever was the case, it (his sister’s behaviour) was completely intolerable.”
Baloch, 26, caused controversy by posting bold, sometimes raunchy, photographs, video and comments on social media.
The model shared hundreds of videos of her dancing in minimal clothing with her 123,000 Instagram followers.
Some of Miss Baloch’s more notable acts included volunteering to perform a striptease for the Pakistani cricket team, and donning a plunging scarlet dress on Valentine’s Day.
Initially dismissed as a Kim Kardashian-like figure, Baloch, whose funeral was held early Sunday near her family home in southern Punjab, was seen by some as empowered in a country where women have fought for their rights for decades.
She was admired by liberals but reviled by conservatives
In a recent interview she was bitterly critical of Pakistan’s patriarchal society
Cases of women being killed for “dishonouring” their family are commonplace in deeply conservative Pakistan.
