Qandeel Baloch's parents want death sentence for 'murderer' son

Lahore: The parents of slain social media celebrity Qandeel Baloch on Wednesday said they will not pardon their son for killing his sister in the name of “honour” and wish he is sent to the gallows for the “cold blooded” murder. The family is already barred from pardoning Qandeel’s brother who has confessed to have strangulated her as Pakistan government, in an unusual move, turned plaintiff in the high-profile murder case. “I will not forgive my son for what he has done. My wife and I want to see our son - Muhammad Waseem - and other suspects to be hanged for their unforgivable crime,” Qandeel’s father Muhammad Azeem said. [caption id=“attachment_2897622” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Qandeel Baloch. Image taken from Facebook[/caption] Talking to reporters, he said he would feel happy if the suspects - his son and three others - were sent to gallows or at least get life imprisonment. “Waseem snatched from us our beautiful Qandeel. In fact, she was our son who would take better case of us,” he said. Qandeel’s mother Anwar Mai also shared the sentiments of his husband, saying “there is no question of pardoning Waseem who killed my beautiful daughter in cold blood”. Last week, the government led by PML-N passed fresh piece of legislation aimed at closing loopholes which previously allowed killers to walk free. According to Capital Police Officer (CPO) Azhar Akram, Section 311 has been added to the FIR, meaning ‘qisas’ or pardoning cannot take place. Akram earlier said that with the state becoming the plaintiff, Qandeel’s father, who is complainant of the case, would not be able to forgive his son and other suspects for his daughter’s murder if at any point he decided to do so. The 26-year-old actor-cum-model was killed in central district of Multan on 15 July allegedly by Waseem, who has confessed to have administered a sedative to her before strangulating her to death for the “honour of the family”. Waseem said he killed his sister due to her social media activities, which included a series of risque video posts with prominent cleric Mufti Qavi. Azeem had lodged the FIR and named his two sons for killing her in Multan, where she had come from Karachi to live with her parents on the occasion of Eid. The latest development comes after Mai claimed Qavi, who was suspended from top religious body Ruet-e-Hilal Committee in the controversy following Qandeel’s video posts with him, had “provoked” her son into murdering her daughter. Police also included Qavi in the murder investigation of Qandeel but later cleared him after finding no proof against him. The ‘honour-killing’ had sent shockwaves across the country and triggered an outpouring of grief on social media for Qandeel.