Samia Shahid, 28, is the most recent victim to fall prey to the rising number of 'honour killing' incidents in Pakistan. Her family said she died of a heart attack and an investigating officer on the case, Aqeel Abbas refuted any signs of foul play, saying there were no signs of external physical injury on Shahid's body. However, a fresh autopsy conducted later revealed bruising around her neck with a source saying they suspected the victim was poisoned.
Her husband Syed Mukhtar Kazam insisted from the beginning that she was murdered by her family as they disapproved of their mariage. Photos released by him shows a 7.5 inch red mark around her neck. "I am releasing this picture of my wife's dead body because I want the world to know that she didn't die of natural causes. She was murdered." A doctor who examined her body described it as a "horrible mark on the right side of the neck."
"The police told the media and everybody here that the body did not have visible marks on it. Well, this proves that it did. What sort of heart attack leaves a bruise like that? It is obviously murder. Her family killed her because they weren't happy that she had married me." As the police had decided she had no suspicious injuries, her family was allowed to bury her in Pandori, northern Punjab. Shahid's father Mohammed Shahid and first husband Mohammed Shakeel were both arrested on suspicion of murder. They were however, bailed soon after.
Pakistan Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said the report confirms claims she died of natural causes are "wrong". "The family's claims that she died of natural causes are apparently wrong and we have ordered a reinvestigation. The reinvestigation is aimed at a murder case rather than a natural death case. The new investigators are sure the family's claims about natural death are not true. I have been told to apply for permission to exhume her body. I will do that if necessary."
The Shahid family have lived in Bradford for years in a big end-of-terrace house complete with a heavy metal gate and high hedge shielding. Samia was pressurised into marrying her cousin Shakeel in a lavish wedding in Pakistan, in 2012 at a young age. She eventually returned to the UK and sought a divorce via the Sharia courts and mailed legal papers to Shakeel at his Pandori home. Her move was said to have insulted her family so much, her family refused to recognise the divorce.
Her relationship with Kazam, a Pakistani living in Dubai was of much disapproval to her relatives as he was considered an outsider, a member of the Syed clan with no links to his ancestral village. She married him in 2014 against their wishes.
Bradford West MP Naz Shah, has called for Samia's body to be exhumed. She said,"'I have seen some pictures which are quite graphic in detail - that does really really raise some serious concerns. We need to get to the bottom of it as soon as possible." She even called on Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to intervene in the case.
