Closure for Qandeel

The life and death of Qandeel raise questions on gender and class - that we, as a nation, need to introspect on

After three long years, we finally have some measure of closure for the tragic story of Qandeel Baloch. A Multan court has convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment the social media star’s brother who happened to be the prime suspect in her murder. While it is said that justice delayed is justice denied, given what happens with cases of honour killings and violence against women in our country, a resolution is better than no resolution.

That said, the verdict, which provides a detailed look into the investigation, does highlight the huge gaps in capability that plague our law enforcement agencies. The conviction, the ruling admits, rests on circumstantial evidence. Meanwhile, none of the allegations against the other suspects could be backed up with any credible proof.

The entire investigation, it appears, rests primarily on verbal accounts, which does seem somewhat baffling considering the violent nature of the case. Surely a murder investigation ought to have yielded more tangible evidence. The recounting of case proceedings also highlights how stuck in the past our investigative processes and laws concerning admissible evidence are. For instance, there is a debate on the admissibility of DNA evidence while polygraph or lie-detector tests — which are known the world over to be highly inaccurate — are treated with what seems a bit more credence.

Finally, stepping away from the judicial and investigative aspects, the life and death of Qandeel also raise questions of gender and class attitudes that we, as a nation, need to introspect on. It is true that her murder is a direct result of our society’s obsession with dictating what is and isn’t ‘proper’ for women and girls. But it is the imperviousness of our country’s class system that left someone born in crippling poverty like her with no shot at prosperity. As we lionise her in death, we should also reflect on the ridicule and derision we poured on her in life as she pursued a future that was tragically out of reach.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 1^st, 2019.

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