Pakistan to try father, British woman’s ex for rape, murder

The Paskistani police are recommending that the ex-husband and the father of a British woman who was killed while on a family visit to Pakistan be tried on rape and murder charges, according to a report shared exclusively with The Associated Press.
The report, which followed a weeks-long police inquiry, describes the killing of 28-year-old Samia Shahid as a “premeditated, cold-blooded murder.”
The case is suspected to be the latest reported incident of so-called “honor killings.” Nearly 1,000 women are murdered in Pakistan each year for violating conservative norms on love, marriage and public behavior.
Shahid’s father and ex-husband were arrested last month but have not been formally charged. The 28-year-old beautician of Pakistani origin was found dead in July in eastern Pakistan where her family buried her after declaring that she had died of a heart attack.
Shahid’s second husband, Mukhtar Kazim, had raised the alarm, which resulted in the arrests and the subsequent inquiry. Kazim claims his wife was lured back by her family to visit Pakistan under the pretext of her father’s illness.
The father and the ex-husband appeared in a court on Monday in the eastern Pakistani city of Jhelum, after the police investigation was completed, and were ordered held for 14 days pending charges and trial.
The Pakistani police report concluded that Shahid was strangled to death. It says that Shahid’s father, Muhammad Shahid, stood guard while her ex-husband, Muhammad Shakeel, raped her. After that, they killed her together.

Source: Arab News