Qandeel Baloch

Acquittal in Qandeel Baloch murder case sparks controversies surrounding state-sanctioned misogyny

Acquittal in Qandeel Baloch murder case sparks controversies surrounding state-sanctioned misogyny

Content warning: this article discusses murder, gendered violence and sexual assault.

Last Monday, Muhammad Waseem was fully acquitted in an appeals court of the 2016 murder of his sister, Qandeel Baloch — a murder to which he confessed. Waseem’s acquittal, despite both confession and evidence against him, is reflective of a larger pattern of failure to deliver justice to victims of femicide in Pakistan.