Parents booked for honour killing in Pakistan

Islamabad, July 27  The parents of a Pakistani-origin British woman along with her former husband were booked for killing their daughter in Punjab province, police has said.

Syed Mukhtar Kazim, the husband of 28-year-old Samia Shahid, said his wife was killed in Jhelum district by her family for "honour", Dawn online reported.

Samia married Kazim against her parents' will, police said on Tuesday.

Kazim lodged an FIR on July 23 against Samia's father Chaudhary Shahid, mother Imtiaz Bibi, sister Madiha Shahid, cousin Mobeen and her former husband Chaudhary Shakil.

Samia's death was reported on July 20 by her father, who denied the charges and insisted that his daughter died of cardiac arrest, police said.

The police had detained her father but set him free after an initial inquiry.

According to a police official, body samples of the woman were sent to the forensic laboratory in Lahore. Results were awaited.

Samia had previously been married to her cousin Shakil but the couple divorced in May 2014. The woman lived in Dubai after marrying Kazim in September 2014.

Kazim claimed that Samia was killed by her relatives who had refused to accept their relationship because of their different communities.

Samia's mother, in a phone conversation on July 11, asked her to come to Pakistan to see her ailing father. She arrived in the country on July 14.

She told Kazim over phone that her father was alright and she was feeling insecure and threatened.

Samia's phone was switched off on July 20. Kazim contacted Mobeen, her cousin, who said Samia had suffered a heart attack.

According to a report in The Guardian, the deceased woman's family denied Kazim's claims.

Her father termed the allegations "lies". "An investigation is under way and if I am found guilty I am ready for every kind of punishment," he said.

Naz Shah, a member of British parliament from Bradford, had asked Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to intervene.

Shah in a letter to Sharif, said: "Should this be [an honour killing] case then we must ensure justice is done for Samia and we must ensure this never happens again."

The British High Commission in Islamabad was in contact with the authorities in Jhelum regarding the developments in the case, the report said.