Karachi: With the trial date for Bradford woman Samia Shahid's murder is set to begin on 17 September, a new report suggests her family members had planned to pardon her killer with the help of loopholes in Pakistan's controversial "blood money" laws. The police have alleged that the "honour" killing was "almost a perfect (murder) plot" prepared by her father Mohammed Shahid and former husband Choudhry Shakeel.
The 43-page report said Shahid's father and former husband carried out a "premeditated and cold-blooded honour killing." Mohammed had allegedly demanded a postmortem on his deceased daughter two hours after he allegedly pinned her down while Shakeel strangulated her with a scarf. It is believed that the father wanted to establish he was a complainant in the case. It is also established that she was raped before being killed. By which, he would have the right to decide the punishment for the killer, giving him a chance to pardon Shakeel.
"Shahid (Samia's father) could have easily pardoned him after a few days being 'Wali' (guardian) of the victim. This way, he could have hidden this gory crime in almost a perfect plot," the report said. It added that Samia's mother and sister were involved in the plot too. The accused's lawyer has dismissed the police report, saying it was based on assumptions. "In Pakistan's legal regime, physical evidence carries maximum importance. There is not even a single eyewitness in the case." However, lead investigator Abubakar Khuda Bakhsh said there are no loopholes. "How can they deny rape and DNA? We have a DNA report which matches perfectly with her first husband."
