Court rejects request by Qandeel Baloch’s parents to pardon her killers
Multan court has rejected the appeal of slain social media celebrity Qandeel Baloch’s parents to pardon their sons for her murder, on Thursday.
An affidavit was submitted yesterday by slain social media celebrity’s parents which said they had forgiven their sons, urging the court to acquit them.
The affidavit submitted in court further stated Qandeel’s murder case was registered on July 16, 2016, while the change to the Anti-Honour Killing Laws which prevents killers from walking free after a pardon was made three months later. Thus, it was not applicable in this murder case.
In 2016, The social media celebrity’s brother Waseem had strangled her to death in the name of “honour” at their house.
Waseem later confessed to the crime, saying she allegedly “brought dishonour to the Baloch name” with her risqué videos and statements posted on social media.
Her second brother Aslam Shaheen was also nominated in the case.
As the affidavit was taken up by the Multan court today, Baloch’s parents informed District and Sessions, Judge Imran Shafi, that they had forgiven their sons “in the name of Allah“.
The judge asked them whether they were only pardoning their sons and not all the accused in the murder case, to which the parents responded in yes.
Judge Shafi also informed them that he would decide their request after examining whether law grants them the right to pardon the killers or not.
“Do you realize what impact your pardon will have on the other accused in the case?” the judge asked, addressing Baloch’s parents.
The court later dismissed Baloch’s parents’ application to pardon their sons, with the judge saying the case regarding murder in the name of ‘honour’ would be decided once the testimonies of all witnesses have been recorded.
The accused in the case, including cleric Mufti Abdul Qavi, were also present in the hearing today.
The court has adjourned the hearing of the case until Aug 24, when the statements of more witnesses will be recorded.
