MULTAN: Three accused in the Qandeel Baloch murder case, including her brother, denied having killed the social media celebrity, after they were indicted by the court here on Monday.

When Additional District and Sessions Judge Saeed Ahmad Raza indicted the three accused -- Qandeel’s brother Waseem, her cousin Haq Nawaz and taxi driver Abdul Basit -- they denied committing the crime.

The fourth co-accused, Zafar Hussain Khosa, was declared an absconder by the court.

The three accused were brought for appearance in the court from jail.

The court fixed Dec 8 as next date of hearing while issuing directions to the witnesses to appear before it.

Meanwhile, Lahore High Court, Multan bench, granted bail to one of the accused, Abdul Basit.

Qandeel was found murdered in her rented house in Multan on July 16. Her father had alleged that she was killed by her younger brother, Waseem, in the name of honour.

Waseem, who had allegedly fled from the scene, later courted arrest. He later confessed to having killed his sister at a press conference.

The police had claimed that Waseem had also made a confession in the presence of an area magistrate. But the counsel for the accused denied any such confession.

Published in Dawn December 6th, 2016