Police yet to decide Mufti Qavi's role in Qandeel 'honour killing'

'The religious scholar's statement is being examined by legal experts to determine his role in the crime'

ISLAMABAD: Although two weeks have passed since social media starlet Qandeel Baloch was murdered over 'honour', Multan Police have yet to decide if Mufti Abdul Qavi should be implicated in the case along with the co-accused, Muhammad Waseem.

Qavi, a known religious scholar, was suspended from the Ruet-e-Hilal Committee after his unpleasant photographs with Qandeel went viral on the internet.

Punjab Police's focal person Nabila Ghazanffar said on Wednesday they had completed Qavi’s interrogation but the latter had not been arrested.

"Qavi's statement is being examined by legal experts to determine his role in the crime, another senior police official, who is familiar with the investigation, told The Express Tribune on condition of anonymity.



The police official said the statement of Qandeel’s mother had created doubts about the authenticity of her claim that she had no prior knowledge about her son’s intentions.

Mai, during initial investigation, told the police she was on the ground floor and came to know about the killing next morning.

“How is it possible that in a small house of five marla the mother could not hear any voice from the first floor,” the official observed, adding it appeared she was trying to protect her son.



Police did not rule out the involvement of other family members in the crime, the official shared.

According to him, it appeared the murder was premeditated, and carried out by four people.

Waseem, the prime accused, reportedly told his interrogators that the second person who helped him in the murder was Haq Nawaz. However, police suspect some other family members were also involved in the crime.

Medical reports prepared after Qandeel's autopsy suggested she was suffocated to death with a pillow or any other heavy object, the official believed.

He said Qandeel was physically a healthy lady who would have definitely resisted the killers, despite being drugged.

Not for 'honour'

Meanwhile, the investigating officers are not convinced that Qandeel’s murder was an honour killing - she was into the social media hype long before the murder took place.

“Why her brother did not feel insulted during those several years?,” an officer questioned.