Lahore High Court's Multan bench on Monday acquitted the prime accused in the murder of model Qandeel Baloch.

Advocate Sardar Mehboob appeared before the bench on behalf of accused Muhammad Waseem, Qandeel's brother who admitted to killing his sister. However, after being charged he retracted the confession.

Baloch was strangled to death in July 2016 at her home. A model court in Multan on September 27, 2019, had sentenced Waseem to life imprisonment.

Safdar Abbas Shah was the prosecution's lawyer while Advocate Mehboob defended the prime accused in the case. The court issued the order after a letter of consent on behalf of Qandeel’s parents was presented, saying they will have no objection if the prime accused is acquitted in the case. Earlier, the court had rejected her parents request for pardon.

The accused in the case also included Aslam Shaheen, as well as his close relatives Haq Nawaz, Zafar Iqbal, Muhammad Arif, Mufti Abdul Qawi and Abdul Basit. Wasim and Haq Nawaz were the main accused in the case while Abdul Basit was a taxi driver and was accused of helping Waseem to escape after the murder of Qandil Baloch.

In his petition, filed through his counsel, Waseem had said that a sessions court had ignored the agreement reached between him and his mother. “And that both his and his sister Qandeel’s father had already passed away,” he said, and added that even witnesses in the case had changed their statements.