(Taser Subhani, Dawn)
A judicial magistrate in Multan on Monday extended the judicial remand of cleric Mufti Abdul Qavi for seven days in connection with the ongoing investigations into Qandeel Baloch murder case.
Qandeel had been murdered last year, allegedly by her brother Mohammad Waseem, who said he killed her in the name of ‘honour’.
During Monday’s hearing, the public prosecutor pleaded before the court to extend Qavi’s remand. The plea was granted and Qavi was sent on remand until November 20.
Earlier, Mufti Qavi was produced before the court amid strict security following the completion of his 12-day remand.
Qandeel’s father Azeem was also present in the court of Judicial Magistrate Pervaiz Khan. The magistrate ordered the police to submit the complete challan in the case before the court within four days.
Separately, a district and sessions court on Monday deferred the hearing of the bail application, submitted by Mufti Qavi, for one day due to nonavailability of the judge.
During an earlier hearing of the case, Qavi had maintained that he had not done anything wrong or illegal, whereas Qandeel’s father Muhammad Azeem had told the magistrate that his daughter had been murdered at the behest of the cleric.
Cleric Mufti Abdul Qavi was arrested by police near Multan on October 18 after his application for an extension in his pre-arrest bail in the murder case was rejected. One day prior to his arrest, Mufti Qavi had appeared before a sessions court for the first time in connection with the murder case.
Qandeel’s murder
Model and actress Qandeel Baloch ─ born Fouzia Azeem ─ was found strangled to death in her house in Multan’s Karimabad area on July 16, 2016. Her father claimed that she was killed by her younger brother, Waseem, in the name of honour.
Her brother Waseem was arrested by police in Dera Ghazi Khan later that night and confessed to killing her in the name of ‘honour’.
Accompanied by police at a press conference, Waseem alleged to have drugged and strangled her, saying that she “brought dishonour to the Baloch name” due to her risque videos and statements posted on social media.
“There are other issues as well… Like the Maulvi issue,” he said, in an apparent reference to a controversy in the weeks leading up to her death after Qandeel took selfies with Mufti Qavi.
Qavi’s selfies had gone viral on social media, causing a nationwide furore, after which the cleric’s membership of the Ruet-i-Hilal committee and the National Ulema Mushaikh Council had been suspended.
