Pakistani social media celebrity dead in ‘honor killing’

Baloch, 26, a model, singer and social media celebrity, had gained notoriety in Pakistan recently because of provocative, seminude photographs of herself that she posted on social media sites, and appearances in music videos. “Qandeel was probably the first true female Internet celebrity in Pakistan, in that her celebrity had nothing to do with any achievement beyond her provocative presence on social media,” said Hasan Zaidi, a Pakistani filmmaker and media critic. “It was unfathomable to a lot of Pakistanis that a real woman could be as brazen or shameless about her sexuality publicly, because her entire persona was built around flaunting her body, talking about sex and being in everyone’s face,” Zaidi said. Many Pakistanis saw the photographs as scandalous, and Qavi was removed from his position on the country’s moon-sighting committee, which determines when Ramadan starts and ends in accordance with the Islamic lunar calendar. The news of her death prompted an immediate outcry on Twitter and Facebook in Pakistan, with many people condemning her killing and praising Baloch for her irreverent and uninhibited ways. Each year, hundreds of Pakistani women are killed by relatives angered by behavior that they think has tarnished the family’s reputation, human rights activists say.