Fouzia Azeem (Urdu: فوزیہ عظیم; 1 March 1990 known by her stage name Qandeel Baloch (Urdu: قندیل بلوچ), is a Pakistani model, actress, social media celebrity and activist. She is the country's first social media celebrity.^[1] Azeem rose to prominence due to her videos on social networks discussing her daily routine, her rights as a Pakistani woman, and various controversial issues.^[2][3]

Baloch first received recognition from the media in 2013, when she auditioned for Pakistan Idol; her audition became popular and she became an Internet celebrity.^[4][5] She is one of the top 10 most searched-for persons on the internet in Pakistan and was both celebrated and criticised for the content of her videos and posts.^[6]

Qandeel was born on 1 March 1990 in Dera Ghazi Khan District,^[7] Punjab into a Baloch family. She hailed from Shah Sadar Din.^[7][8] She came from an underprivileged family, the daughter of Anwar Bibi and Muhammad Azeem, who scratched a living from local farming. She had six brothers and two sisters. Growing up, she was interested in her studies, as well as acting and singing. Before her rise to fame, her first job was as a bus hostess.^[9]

Baloch's fame was based on her social media posts – pictures, videos and comments. These were considered bold and outrageous by the largely conservative Pakistani community. Her most popular videos were those of her with her catchphrase "How em luking?" (How am I looking?) and those of her saying "Maire sar mai pain ho raha hai" (my head hurts) in a funny and catchy tone. Her catchphrases became popular and were humorously adopted by Pakistani youth. They also featured dubbing social media site dubsmash and became widely popular among Indian and Pakistani youth alike.^[6] Some international news media compared her to Kim Kardashian;^[10] however, local commentators stated that she was more significant than Kardashian, as Baloch "went against the norms of society" and lived life on her own terms.^[11] She started to appear on Pakistani talk shows regularly by 2014, either to perform songs or to discuss her rising social media popularity. She participated in "Desi Kuriyan (season 4)" as a contestant. She also served as digital manager at Neptuner Web Solutions.^[12]

In June 2016, Baloch met senior cleric Mufti Abdul Qawi at a hotel to learn more about her faith; the interaction between them brought about mayhem on social media platforms, as their photos became popular online.^[13][14][15] She also wore a hat with the Mufti's signature.^[16] The meeting led to the Mufti being suspended from his position from one of Pakistan's religious committees, and to Baloch being a regular on popular Pakistani current affairs and news programmes. She appeared on various popular Pakistani TV shows with senior anchors such as Mubashir Lucman. She would mostly be on talk shows debating with religious scholars on her western and controversial acts and lifestyle.^[17]

A previous stunt which became popular on social media was her promise to strip dance for her followers and to dedicate her dance to cricketer Shahid Afridi if Pakistan won the Twenty20 match against India on 19 March 2016. She released a teaser on social media, which became popular, but Pakistan lost the match.^[18] Some Indian media compared her to Poonam Pandey.^[19][20]

As her media presence grew, Baloch began to use her position to comment on women's position in Pakistani society. The week before she was murdered, she released a music video entitled Ban, which mocked the restrictions placed on women in the country.^[17] In an interview with controversial anchor Mubashir Luqman, Baloch named Sunny Leone, Rakhi Sawant and Poonam Pandey as her inspirations.^[21] She also said that many organizations, people and media groups were calling her to feature in their shows to increase their own ratings.

In 2008, at age 17, Baloch was married to a local man named Aashiq Hussain, her mother's cousin.^[24][25] She had a son with him.^[9][26] Her husband beat and tortured her, and after two years of marriage, she fled. (Baloch's mother, when preparing her daughter's body for her funeral, found cigarette burns on her arms.)^[27] She left her son with his father and moved to Karachi.^[28]

In 2016, MangoBaaz reported that Qandeel Baloch was the most Googled person in Pakistan. 2016.^[29]