#RIP: Qandeel Baloch shot dead

Reports have just come in that Pakistani singer, actress and model Qandeel Baloch was shot dead earlier today in Multan. According to the police, she was killed by her brother “over honour”. Apparently, Baloch’s brother wanted her to quit modelling.

Baloch, whose real name was Fauzia Azeem, became a particularly well-known name in India when she was confirmed as a contestant in the upcoming season of the reality television show Bigg Boss 10. In Pakistan, Baloch was well known for antics that were not just provocative, but even unwittingly comic. Most recently, she’d appeared in the music video for Aryan Khan’s Ban, in which she was seen twerking.

Behind the glossy facade, however, Baloch was going through challenging times. Three weeks ago, she had written to a number of government officials, including Pakistan’s Interior Minister, saying that she feared for her life and that she was getting threatening calls on her mobile phone. She’d pleaded for security, saying that she felt extremely tense and feared for her life. Four days ago, someone had put up Baloch’s personal documents (including her passport) online.

“I know I will not be provided security and I am not feeling secured here so have decided to move abroad with my parents after Eidul Fitr,” Baloch had told The Tribune. Her last few posts on social media were defiant, despite the intimidation that she’d been facing. In one, she wrote, “As a women we must stand up for ourselves..As a women we must stand up for each other…As a women we must stand…”.