Samia Shahid murder: Victim’s mother, sister declared POs

In a bizarre twist of events, a local court in Jhelum has declared the mother and sister of slain British-Pakistani woman Samia Shahid as proclaimed offenders.

The court’s decision came days after the local police had submitted a formal challan in the case requesting the court to declare Shahid’s mother, Imtiaz Bibi and sister Madiha as wanted criminals, the investigating officer in the case, Afzal Mehdi told BBC Urdu.

Shahid, from Bradford, was found dead in Pandori village in Jhelum District in the house of her first husband Shakeel Ahmed on July 20. The family claimed she died a natural death.

On the basis of her second husband Syed Mukhtar Kazim’s complaint, Jhelum police booked Ahmed, and Samia’s father Muhammad Shahid for murder.

Officer Mehdi added that they will now put up posters of the two women outside the court and their temporary residence. The police had included Imtiaz Bibi and Madiha in the challan on the complaint of Kazim.

The two women, who are also British citizens, had returned to England on July 18 and officials have conceded that initial investigations had failed to show any links between them and the murder.

After the court declared the two as proclaimed offenders, officials say they can approach Interpol for a warrant as Pakistan does not have an extradition treaty with the UK.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 18^th, 2016.