Mad World

Pakistani Model Killed After Ramadan Joke

Strangled in her sleep by her own brother.

A Pakistani fashion model has been strangled to death by her brother after posting a photo with a Muslim cleric and joking about Ramadan online. Qandeel Baloch, real name Fauzia Azeem, was killed in her sleep by one of her six brothers, police said Saturday. She had recently posted a photograph with Mufti Qavi, a well-known cleric, saying the two of them had smoked cigarettes and downed soft drinks together during the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims are meant to be fasting. The joke triggered outrage among conservatives and a scandal as Qavi faced major backlash. Baloch has suffered the same fate as hundreds of other Pakistani women each year, as honor killings continue unabated.