DERA GHAZI KHAN: Azeem Khan is badly missing his daughter, social media celebrity Qandeel Baloch. She was found killed in their rented house in Multan on July 23 this year.

“Had she been alive, Qandeel would have taken me to Karachi to treat my tuberculosis and get me a prosthetic leg,” said Azeem, who recently shifted to his native town of Saddaruddin, a suburban town of Dera Ghazi Khan, from Multan. Qandeel had rented a house in Multan for her elderly parents and used to support them financially, acting as bread-winner of the family.

After Qandeel Baloch, the elderly couple has been left unattended. They could not afford paying the rent of the house and other expditures that she used to bear. For their failure to pay the rent, both Azeem and his wife have returned to their native town.

He says they feel they are not welcome to the village, alleging they had received threats from Zafar, also a co-accused in the murder case.

After her murder, they face financial onstraints, threats

Qandeel’s brother Waseem, along with Haq Nawaz, is in jail facing trial for the murder of his sister. He alleged the murderers had also stolen Rs200,000 and the jewellery of Qandeel and his own Rs40,000 from the house.

He had no money to shift Qandeel’s body to the village in a vehicle on that fateful day.

He said in fact Zaffar had instigated Waseem to kill Qandeel and for that reason, he sent Haq Nawaz to help Waseem to kill Qandeel. The court granted bail to Zafar in the case last month.

Azeem has no sources to attend court proceedings; he comes to know about the proceedings of the murder case through newspapers. He says it disturbs him that the chalan of the case is still incomplete.

Some local philanthropists provide food to Azeem and his wife.

Their counsel in the case, Syed Safdar Shah, said Azeem and his wife were not being taken care of by their sons after the murder of Qandeel.

Published in Dawn October 4th, 2016