Naz Shah MP appreciates swift investigation by Punjab Police
West Yorkshire Police has said that Pakistani authorities have not yet made any contact with the police here in relation to the murder investigation of Bradford-born British Pakistani girl Samia Shahid in Jhelum but a request to assist the investigation will be “carefully considered”.
A forensic examination of the body of Samia Shahid established on Wednesday she was suffocated to death and there were injury marks on her body, according to reports in Pakistan.
Samia Shahid’s husband Syed Mukhtar Kazam believes that she was the victim of a so-called honour killing because she had rebelled against wishes of the family, divorced her first husband Muhammad Shakeel and married him in Bradford in 2014.
Samia Shahid’s family insisted she died from natural causes but Syed Mukhtar Kazam believes she was killed because of her marriage to him and Samia Shahid's family in Pakistan and Bradford has strongly denied any involvement in her death.
Speaking to ‘The News’, a spokesman of the West Yorkshire police confirmed that Samia Shahid’s mother and sister are in Bradford now. ‘The News’ understands the duo flew out of Pakistan as soon as the investigation started – after the news of murder was first written in this newspaper and highlighted by Geo News.
The police spokesman said: “We believe they are both in the UK, but this is a Pakistan police investigation and all enquiries are being directed by the investigating force.”
The spokesman said that the West Yorkshire police was “continuing to liaise with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office regarding their investigation”.
When asked whether Samia Shahid had reported to the Bradford police that she feared for her life after getting married to Syed Mukhtar Kazam, the police spokesman said that she never told that police about threats to her life. “No allegations were made to police concerning immediate threats to her safety.”
However, the police spokesman said that “Samia was spoken to by officers after she was reported missing”. Its understood that Samia was reported missing by her family after she married Kazam and left for Dubai.
The spokesman said: “We can confirm that Samia Shahid was reported missing to West Yorkshire police on May 14, 2015.”
When asked if anyone has been arrested or spoken to in Bradford, the spokesman said: “No arrests have been made in Bradford in relation to the investigation. Any request from the Pakistan police for assistance with enquiries will be carefully considered. This is a Pakistan police investigation.”
Bradford West Labour MP Naz Shah, who has campaigned for the case to be thoroughly investigated in Pakistan, said: "We're actually very pleasantly surprised at the way the Pakistan authorities have responded to this and the urgency that they've placed on this investigation, which is quite impressive. The communication, to say we're so far apart, has been pretty good."
It’s understood that if Pakistani police ask for extradition in this case through the FCO then the British authorities will be bound to cooperate with Pakistani request.