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After unverified reports \u2014 mostly in the Indian media \u2014 that Karima had been killed, Canadian authorities investigating the circumstances had termed the activist’s death to be “non-criminal”.<\/p>\nKarima Baloch, who was also known as Karima Mehrab, had gone missing in Toronto\u2019s downtown waterfront area last month and her body was found a day later. She was living in the Canadian city in exile for about five years.<\/p>\n
After unverified reports \u2014 mostly in the Indian media \u2014 that Karima had been killed, Canadian authorities investigating the circumstances had termed the activist’s death to be “non-criminal”.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, Karima’s body was repatriated to Pakistan and was taken by security officials from Karachi airport to Balochistan. Her funeral prayers were held amid tight security in Tump area of Turbat and were attended by immediate family members and hundreds of locals, according to The Guardian.<\/p>\n
\u201cKarima was the epitome of women\u2019s politics in Balochistan,\u201d said Sadia Baloch, 21, a student activist. \u201cBecause of her we can leave our houses in a tribal and conservative society. We can protest in a male-dominated society. She was one of the first to challenge the brutal state, outdated norms and tribalism. Her legacy lives on in us.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Even exiled from Pakistan, Baloch\u2019s vocal activism continued from Canada and in 2016 she was\u00a0listed by the BBC\u00a0in its 100 most inspirational and influential women. But according to her family, the threats to her life never abated. Though the Toronto police have declared her death by drowning as not suspicious, her family and many back in Balochistan are adamant there could have been foul play, connected to Baloch\u2019s high-profile activism.<\/p>\n
The family say the circumstances of Baloch\u2019s death do not add up and they are pushing the Toronto police to investigate further. There were no witnesses to her death, and though she could not swim, the place where she fell in the lake, Toronto\u2019s central island pier, has waist-high railings the whole way round designed to make it hard to fall in accidentally.<\/p>\n
Baloch was the second Pakistani dissident to die this year, following the\u00a0death of Sajid Hussain, a journalist, also from Balochistan, who was forced to seek asylum in Sweden after facing death threats for his work exposing human rights abuses in Balochistan. In May, Hussain was found drowned in a river near his home. His family say they are unsatisfied with the police ruling of accidental death.<\/p>\n
\nVideo: Relatives & close family friends were allowed to participate in the last funeral prayers of #KarimaBaloch<\/a>. The huge participation of local women can also be seen in this video. People across the Balochistan were not allowed to farewell their leader.@Gulalai_Ismail<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/mTw6iP3rJG<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Niaz Baloch (@Niaz_Zehri) January 25, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n