Mufti Qavi responsible for Qandeel's murder, alleges father

MULTAN: The father of Qandeel Baloch, a social media celebrity murdered by her brother, informed a magisterial court here today that his daughter was killed at the behest of cleric Mufti Abdul Qavi. 

Qandeel Baloch was murdered by her brother, Waseem, in Multan on July 15, last year. The suspect stated he killed his sister for she “brought disgrace on the family”.

Qandeel’s father, Muhammad Azeem, told the court that Mufti Qavi was responsible for his daughter’s murder and added he would not forgive those behind her murder.

Police produced Mufti Qavi before Judicial Magistrate Pervaiz Khan after expiry of his remand.

The investigation officer of the case requested the court to extend the cleric’s physical remand, saying his custody was required for further investigation into the murder. He said he expected to get the results of a polygraph test of Mufti soon, which would help in investigation.

The court is yet to announce its verdict on whether or not it extends Qavi’s physical remand.

Polygraph test

Earlier, a polygraph test – commonly referred to as lie detector – had identified inconsistencies in Mufti Qavi’s statements during a grilling session at Punjab Forensic Science Agency.

The cleric was grilled for over four hours about his contacts with the prime suspects in the Qandeel Baloch murder case.

During the investigation, Qavi dismissed the allegations of his involvement in Qandeel’s murder but the lie-detector machine pointed out several flaws in his claims.

The forensic evidence further points the finger of suspicion at him when some objectionable videos were recovered from his cell phone, which were reportedly deleted earlier.

Earlier this week, Mufti Abdul Qavi – who rose to fame for his controversial photos with social media icon Qandeel Baloch – was arrested in Multan from a highway in compliance with the court orders, while he was fleeing to Jhang city. 

He was admitted to a local hospital after he complained of chest pain where he underwent some tests pertaining to cardiovascular disease.

According to his doctor Zafar Alvi, the cleric has been suffering from cardiovascular disease over past four years and two stents have been placed so far to treat his condition.

It is apropos to mention here that a polygraph machine detects lies by looking for signs of physiological changes. Four to six sensors are attached to a person taking the test.

Both during and after the test, a polygraph examiner can look at the graphs and can see whether the vital signs changed significantly on any of the questions. In general, a significant change (such as a faster heart rate, higher blood pressure, increased perspiration) indicates that the person is lying.