Husband of Dubai resident killed in Pakistan calls for justice

Mukhtar Kazam, the husband of British woman Samia Shahid, shows her post-mortem report in Rawalpindi. Mr Kazam has branded her death an “honour killing”. Habib Shaikh / AFP Photo

RAWALPINDI // The husband of a British woman who was killed in Pakistan has called for the UK and Pakistani governments to ensure his wife received justice, as he sought to keep the spotlight on so-called “honour killings’.

Mukhtar Kazam presented at an emotional press conference a copy of the post-mortem report into his wife Samia Shahid’s death which said the 28-year-old had marks on her neck, and suggested she had been strangled.

Mr Kazam has branded her death an “honour killing”, a near daily occurrence in Pakistan in which a relative is murdered by another for bringing the family “dishonour”.

The practice was brought into the international spotlight earlier this month with the killing of Qandeel Baloch, a polarising Pakistani social media starlet. In that case, Baloch’s brother has confessed to the murder, saying his sister’s behaviour had been “intolerable”.

Mr Kazam sought to keep international attention on “honour” killings when he spoke to media assembled in Rawalpindi, close to the capital Islamabad on Thursday.

“I request the British and Pakistani governments to conduct a fair trial,” he said.

Mr Kazam and Shahid, who was a dual British-Pakistani citizen, had been married for two years and were living in Dubai, adding that it was Shahid’s second marriage. Mr Kazam is Pakistani. Police had initially said that he also was British-Pakistani.

Mr Kazam said his wife converted to Shia Islam, his sect, before their wedding, which had irked her parents.

In a complaint to police he has claimed she was murdered during a visit to her family in their village in Punjab province on July 20.

Shahid’s father has denied the charges and said he did not want an investigation, claiming his daughter died of natural causes.

Police said that Shahid’s first husband, Mohammed Shakeel, is being investigated in the murder but received pre-arrest bail on Thursday.

Her parents and a cousin are also being investigated, said Jhelum district police chief Mujahid Akbar.

The chief minister of Punjab province, Shahbaz Sharif, brother to Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif, has formed a special committee that is also tasked with investigating the murder, a senior government official said.

The victims of “honour” killings are overwhelmingly women, with hundreds killed each year.

They have long polarised Pakistan, with liberals calling for tough legislation against them and conservatives resisting.

But the murder of Qandeel Baloch appears to have spurred politicians to take action.

Last week the law minister announced that bills aimed at tackling loopholes that facilitate “honour” killings would soon be voted on by parliament.

Rights groups and politicians have for years called for tougher laws to tackle perpetrators of violence against women in Pakistan.

* Agence France-Presse