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ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan's Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Wednesday ordered an investigation into the mysterious death of a Pakistani woman living in England after her husband claimed she was killed for marrying against her family's wishes.
A ministry statement said Khan asked police to swiftly complete the probe into the death of Samia Shahid, 28, of Bradford, who died while visiting her family in Pakistan's Punjab province.
Nabila Ghazanfar, a police spokeswoman, told The Associated Press that police were alerted about Shahid's death by her parents on July 20. "The parents of Samia Shahid at the time told police they saw some fluid coming out from her mouth and that she was found dead in her room," she said.
Ghazanfar said officers were waiting for Shahid's post-mortem report when her husband Mukhtar Kazim told police he believed she was killed by her family. She said the exact cause of Shahid's death is not clear and police are still questioning suspects.
Mujahid Akbar, the district police chief, told the AP that police had detained two members of Shahid's family for questioning.
"Nothing can be ruled out. It can be a case of honor killing, but right now we are waiting for reports of medical tests done on her body," he said.
Police are also trying to track down Shahid's first husband, who is also her cousin. Akbar said Shahid's husband told police that his wife angered her family by divorcing her cousin two years ago to marry him.
The latest case surfaced less than two weeks after taboo-defying social media celebrity Qandeel Baloch was strangled by her brother for posting racy photos that were deemed shameful in conservative Pakistan. Hundreds of Pakistani woman are murdered by family members each year in so-called honor killings.
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