Father of a British woman murdered for ‘honour’ in Pakistan has revealed the moment he claims he found her on the floor “foaming at the mouth.”
Samia Shahid’s father in his first interview since his arrest as an accomplice in his daughter’s murder has denied involvement. I saw Samia lying dead with some froth forming at her mouth. She may have fallen downstairs or somebody gave her something,” he told Daily Mail.
“I didn’t touch her body and called the police. I asked them to perform autopsy. The police lifted up her body. I handed over all her belongings including her mobile phone,” he added.
Samia was found dead in Pandori village in the house of her first husband Shakeel Ahmed on July 20. The family claimed she died a natural death. Her second husband, Mukhtar Kazim, alleged that she was killed by her family as they disapproved of her marriage with him. On the basis of his complaint, Jhelum police booked Ahmed and Samia’s father Muhammad Shahid for murder.
Shakeel was charged with Samia’s rape and murder on a FIR registered by Kazam. He was later released on bail due to lack of evidence.
However, Shahid has a different story than the police’s version. “I knew she was back at home alone after Shakeel had gone somewhere in the morning. I left my home around 12 noon and went to Samia’s home. It was a routine visit. It took me two-three minutes to reach there,” he claimed.
Shahid says when he reached Samia’s house, he felt something was amiss. He found her dead with a red mark across her neck. He insisted it was because of a necklace and not strangulation.
“Everything was normal. Samia had no problem with Shakeel. She was happy with him and went with him to the house,” he said. “I would not shy away to get a murder case registered even if Samia’s husband, my nephew, might have been involved. But first I needed to know whether she was murdered, died from natural causes or it was an accident.”
Shahid said he was close to his eldest daughter and wanted to mourn her death. “It is so painful that my daughter has died and I am accused of being involved in her murder. We were not allowed to mourn her death. She was my daughter. I am grieved at her death but somebody else wants to become her legal heir and they want to get her father hanged. This is not fair.”
