His lawyer, Sardar Mehboob, told AFP the court in Multan had found his client guilty and sentenced him to life imprisonment, in a long-awaited verdict. "Inshallah (God willing), he will be acquitted by a high court," he said. Five others were acquitted by the court, including cleric Mufti Abdul Qavi who had been embroiled in controversy with Baloch months ahead of her death. "We are distraught by this verdict. The government is still enslaved to the whites and is bowing to their rules," said Baloch's brother Aslam Shaheen, who was among the acquitted.
Earlier, Baloch's mother Anwar Mai told AFP she had hoped her son Waseem would also be acquitted. "He is innocent. She was my daughter and he is my son," she said. Three months after Baloch's murder, parliament passed new legislation mandating life imprisonment for honour killings.