A Pakistani court has ordered the father and the ex-husband of a British woman to go on trial for her murder.
Samia Shahid, 28, from Bradford, was allegedly strangled to death while visiting her family in northern Punjab last month. Her second husband, Mukhtar Syed Kazam, said he believed his wife was killed because her family disapproved of their marriage.
Shahid’s first husband, Mohammad Chaudhry Shakeel, and her father, Mohammad Shahid, are being held for a further 14 days pending trial.
The chief investigator, Abu Bakar Khuda Bux, said the two suspects appeared before a court in the eastern Pakistani city of Jhelum on Monday after the police investigation was completed.
Police said Shahid was strangled to death on 20 July. Her family claimed she died of natural causes. Kazam had raised the alarm, which led to the arrests.
It is alleged Shahid’s family lured her back to Pakistan under the pretext of her father being ill, but she was then murdered.
Kazam said he believed she was killed by her family because she had rebelled against their wishes, divorced Shakeel and then married him in Bradford in 2014.
The hearing has been adjourned until 5 September.
