TORONTO (BBC) – The body of Karima Baloch, a Pakistani human rights activist, has been found in Toronto, Canada, where she had been living for five years in exile. Toronto police issued an appeal after she went missing on Sunday and later confirmed that her body had been found.

Karima Baloch

Ms Baloch, 37, a campaigner from the restive region of Balochistan in western Pakistan, was a vocal critic of the Pakistani military and state. She left Pakistan in 2015, after terrorism charges were levelled against her.

However, Police said there were “not believed to be any suspicious circumstances”.

She continued to campaign in exile for the rights of people in Balochistan, both on social media and in person. And the threats followed her, according to Lateef Johar Baloch, a close friend and fellow activist who also lives in Toronto. He told the BBC that Ms Baloch had recently received anonymous threats warning someone would send her a “Christmas gift” and “teach her a lesson”.

Earlier this year, another former Baloch resident living in exile, journalist Sajid Hussain Baloch, went missing and was later found dead. Mr Baloch, who was related to Ms Baloch, was living in Sweden. Swedish police ruled out any “visible wrongdoing” and the cause of death was ruled to be drowning.