'Forgery' case registered against Samia Shahid, second husband

According to reports, Samia, Mukhtar Kazim, forged documents of their marriage in UK

Jhelum police registered a case against the slain British-Pakistani woman Samia Shahid, who was killed in the name of honour, and her second husband on charges of fraud.

The case was registered against Samia and Mukhtar Kazim over forging documents of their marriage in the UK, when she was already legally married to her cousin in Pakistan.



Samia, 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. Both are in jail on judicial remand but have not been charged yet.

In August, Ahmed's uncle Haq Nawaz moved an application with the police seeking a criminal case against Kazim, claiming that Kazim and Samia had committed polyandry, which is a crime under Pakistani law.

Further, Nawaz submitted an application to the Mangla police through his counsel barrister Masroor Shah. “Shakeel Ahmed married Samia Shahid according to the law on February 27, 2012, and he has never divorced her,” the application read. A marriage certificate issued by the union council was attached with the application.

British-Pakistani woman murdered, confirms police

Nawaz maintained that Kazim and Samia used forged documents to get married in the UK. “Samia Shahid, Mukhtar Kazim, Abbas Shah, and Zilak Shah prepared fake documents and impersonated Shakeel Ahmed before the UK authorities,” reads the application. He has requested the police to book Kazim, Samia and two others for impersonation, fraud, and fornication.

When the police failed to register the case, Nawaz filed an application through his lawyer barrister Masroor Shah before a justice of peace in Jhelum, who ordered the police to register the case against the four. The police, however, challenged the court’s decision before the Lahore High Court Rawalpindi Bench but the high court also upheld the decision given by the justice of peace.

Mangla SHO Malik Aqeel Abbas said the police had requested information from the UK government and will proceed accordingly when the information is received. The court, however, accepted the petitioner’s view that investigation must be carried out after the registration of an FIR and not vice versa.



Mangla police finally registered a case against the four on November 16. The suspects have been booked for fraud and forgery.

While talking to The Express Tribune, Masroor Shah, lawyer for Haq Nawaz, claimed that the only marriage document Samia and Kazim had was issued on a letterhead of a cleric in Bradford. “This document has no legal value in Pakistan or the UK,” he said.