Mahrang Baloch Receives Life Sentence in Pakistan Court
Dr Mahrang Baloch, a doctor‑turned‑activist known for demanding answers on missing family members in Balochistan, was handed a life sentence on Monday after a court convicted her and a fellow activist, Sibghatullah Shah, of terrorism, sedition and murder linked to a protest in Gwadar in 2024.
The court’s decision comes after months of detention and a legal battle that Mahrang and her supporters claim is politically motivated. She denies the charges and intends to appeal in higher courts, while her sister Nadia Baloch vows to challenge the ruling publicly.
Balochistan’s Struggle Over Disappearances and Resources
In Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province, thousands of people have vanished in recent decades, often with bodies found in remote areas burned or unrecognisable. Activists say security forces have detained, tortured and killed suspects without due process in a campaign to stifle separatist sentiment and control the province’s rich natural resources.
The government counters that many of the missing joined insurgent groups or fled abroad, and that 80 % of reported cases have been resolved. Yet organisations estimating higher numbers view disappearances as weapons of state repression.
A Legal Battle Begins
Mahrang rose to prominence through the Baloch Yakjehti Committee, campaigning not only for the disappeared but also for greater control over Balochistan’s resources. She organised nationwide marches and speaks for the thousands of families left waiting for answers.
While critics accuse her movement of harboring separatist agendas, she consistently rejects such allegations, insisting her goal is simply to secure the right of people to live without fear.
Following her charges, Mahrang reports that the court was opaque: lawyers were swapped, witnesses denied access, and the proceedings were not open to the public, according to her sister.
From Protest to Prison
Earlier in March 2025, as she led a protest in Quetta over unclaimed bodies, authorities arrested her. She had been on the run for months, marching over 1 000 km to Islamabad demanding information on missing relatives, a journey during which she was detained twice.
Mahrang’s future remains uncertain, but her message continues: the struggle for human rights and accountability in Balochistan will not abate while her life sentence stands.
