Islamabad court grants five-day remand of suspect in Laiba suicide case

An Islamabad District and Sessions Court on Monday remanded a suspect in police custody for five days in a case involving the reported suicide of a former International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI) student, Laiba, following an alleged fraud.

Laiba had reportedly committed suicide after her dreams of pursuing higher studies at Harvard University in the United States were squashed when a man posing as an agent defrauded her of over Rs7 million. Her body was found hanging from a tree in Sector G-10 in Islamabad on Friday. Subsequently, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took notice of the case, directing Islamabad Police and the FIA to initiate investigations.

The suspect, identified as Muhammad Nauman, was produced before Judicial Magistrate Zunaira Zafar, where police sought a 10-day physical remand for further investigation.

The court, however, granted police five days of physical remand and handed the suspect over to investigators. Police brought Nauman to court with his face covered.

The FIA’s Anti-Human Trafficking Circle in Islamabad registered a case against suspects Nauman and Fatima Sarwar under Sections 419 (cheating), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and 109 (abetment) of the Pakistan Penal Code, read with Sections 18 and 22 of the Emigration Ordinance, 1979.

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Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspects allegedly acted in connivance to deceive Laiba with promises of a US visa and scholarship. They allegedly received a total of Rs9.3 million from the family.

The FIA said the suspects allegedly prepared fake scholarship award letters, university admission offer letters and fee payment receipts to keep the family under the impression that the process was genuine. Of the total amount, Rs2.9m was transferred through Laiba’s personal bank account, while the remaining sum was received in cash, according to the agency.

Laiba's family stated that she had aspired to enrol at Harvard University for further studies and that they had made significant financial sacrifices to secure Laiba’s academic future and fulfil her dream. Laiba’s father sold his plot and pitched in Rs2.1 million from the sale’s proceeds, while her mother sold her gold jewellery.

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According to the family, the suspect who reportedly defrauded them claimed to be an accounts officer at the Islamabad High Court and at other times presented himself as an employee of the superior judiciary or an officer of a sensitive institution. The family claimed that despite the substantial payment, the promises regarding admission and the scholarship given to Laiba were never fulfilled.

Laiba’s maternal uncle, Rana Amjad, stated that the Harvard University admission letter, scholarship letter and other documents provided by the suspect turned out to be fake upon verification.

He said that Laiba suffered severe distress and mental anguish after the alleged fraud came to light. Her family demanded a thorough investigation into the matter, the arrest of all individuals involved in the alleged fraud, and the recovery of the money.