Pak honour killing victim committed suicide: Dad

While the husband of a Pakistani-origin British woman claims his wife was killed by her parents for converting to Shia Islam, her father has retracted from his earlier statement now saying she had committed suicide.

“My daughter, Samia, 28, has committed suicide,” said Chaudhry Shahid who earlier had claimed that Samia died of cardiac arrest. Shahid changed his statement before a four-member police investigation team.

Earlier, Shahid had insisted that his daughter did not commit suicide as she suffered a fatal heart-attack and died without receiving medical aid. Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif has constituted a new team to investigate the matter.

Samia, from Dhok Pandori village, Jehlum, had come to Pakistan from Dubai over two weeks ago to see her ailing father and was allegedly murdered on July 20.

Syed Mukhtar Kazim, second husband of Samia, told police her wife had been killed by her family members for marrying against the will of her parents.

“My wife converted to Shia before wedding which had irked her parents,” Kazim said, calling upon the UK and Pakistani governments to ensure justice is done.

Police have registered the case against five accused, including Samia’s father, mother, sister, cousin, and her ex-husband.

According to the autopsy report, Samia had marks on her neck, suggesting she had been strangled.

Kazim and Samia, both British-Pakistani dual citizens, had been married for two years and were living in Dubai.

A beauty therapist from Bradford, Samia had previously been married to her first cousin Shakil but the couple parted ways after divorce in May 2014. She then married Kazim of Taxila in September 2014 and both started living in Dubai.

Kazim claimed in the FIR that Samia had been killed by her family who refused to accept their relationship because he belonged to the Shia sect.

Her murder came over a week after social media celebrity Qandeel Baloch was strangled by her brother in a so-called “honour killing” which caused an international uproar forcing the Pakistani government to announce strict action against those involved in her murder.