[DAWN] Cleric Mufti Abdul Qavi appeared before a sessions court in Multan for the first time in connection with the Qandeel Baloch murder case on Tuesday.Mufti Qavi, who is currently on a pre-arrest bail, appeared in the court of District and Sessions Judge Chaudhry Ameer Ahmad Khan.
Talking to news hounds while arriving at the court, Mufti Qavi said that he has presented himself in the court as per orders.
"We will accept whatever decision the judiciary announces," he said.
As the hearing started, the holy man's counsel requested the court to adjourn the hearing until tomorrow so that he could prepare his arguments. The judge accepted his request and adjourned the hearing until tomorrow (Wednesday).
The judge also ordered police to produce Qandeel's brother, Waseem, and her cousin, Haq Nawaz, before the court in the next hearing. Waseem and Nawaz were indicted in Qandeel murder case by a court last year, however, they denied killing her.
Police had included Mufti Qavi's name as a suspect in the murder case of the social media celebrity on the request of her father, Muhammad Azeem, the complainant in the case, who in a statement before the police suspected the holy man's possible role in her murder.
Judge Ameer Ahmad Khan last week granted pre-arrest bail to Mufti Qavi shortly after a trial court issued his non-bailable arrest warrants in the Qandeel murder case.
Judicial Magistrate Muhammad Pervaiz Khan had issued non-bailable warrants for the arrest of Mufti Qavi when the investigation officer informed the court that he was not cooperating with police in investigation.
The judge expressed had his displeasure over the slow pace of trial by police who claimed that Mufti Qavi’s lack of cooperation was the cause of delay.
Soon after the non-bailable warrants were issued, the counsel for Mufti Qavi had filed a pre-arrest bail application and the judge granted bail against a surety bond of Rs100,000.
Qandeel's murder
Model and actress Qandeel Baloch was found strangled to death in her house in Multan's Karimabad area on July 16, 2016. Her father claimed that she was killed by her younger brother, Waseem, in the name of honour.
Her brother Waseem was placed in durance vile
Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw!
by police in Dera Ghazi Khan later that night and confessed to killing her in the name of 'honour'. Accompanied by police at a presser, Waseem alleged to have drugged and strangled her, saying that she "brought dishonour to the Baloch name" due to her risque videos and statements posted on social media.
"There are other issues as well... Like the maulvi issue," he said, in an apparent reference to a controversy last year about Qandeel's selfies with Mufti Qavi.
Qavi's selfies with Qandeel went viral on social media in 2016, causing a nationwide furore, after which the holy man's membership of the Ruet-e-Hilal committee and the National Ulema Mushaikh Council was suspended.