Cleric may be named in Qandeel Baloch case

The Pakistani police was on Friday considering naming cleric Mufti Qawi, suspended member of Central Ruet-e-Hilal (moon sighting) Committee, as an accused in the murder case of social media star Qandeel Baloch.

A senior police official said the pictures of Baloch with the clergyman had led to her death. He further said the police could not hand him a clean chit until investigations were over.

The murdered social media star had met Qawi two months before she was killed by her brother for ‘honour’ on July 16. Baloch had taken selfies with Qawi during their meeting in Karachi.

After the pictures surfaced, Qawi was suspended from his post and he had been fighting a legal case. Qawi, on the other hand has said it is unfair to tighten the noose around him after Waseem, Qandeel’s brother, has confessed to the crime and named co-conspirators.

He has claimed innocence ever since he was contacted by police right after her murder. This is not the first time Qawi, as he puts it, being dragged into the case as the police had dispatched a questionnaire to him earlier asking several questions the department deemed right for investigation.