Samia Shahid death: Ex-husband admits Pakistan ‘honour killing’

Samia Shahid

The former husband of a woman allegedly murdered in Pakistan has confessed to killing her, a police source has told the BBC.

Samia Shahid, 28, from Bradford, died last month in northern Punjab in what is believed to have been a so-called honour killing.

Ex-husband Choudhry Shakeel has been arrested on suspicion of her murder.

He has now said he strangled Ms Shahid with a scarf, according to BBC Pakistan correspondent Shaimaa Khalil.

Her father Mohammad has been held as an accessory to murder.

Both appeared in court in Pakistan on Saturday and were remanded for four days.

The police had previously denied reports of Mr Shakeel’s alleged confession when he and Mr Shahid were arrested and brought to court.

Ms Shahid’s relatives had initially claimed she died of a heart attack, but her husband, Syed Mukhtar Kazam, claims she was killed.

A post-mortem examination has since confirmed she died as a result of being strangled, police said.

Mr Kazam, who is Ms Shahid’s second husband, believes his wife was killed because her family disapproved of their marriage.

In his confession, Mr Shakeel, who is also Ms Shahid’s cousin, reportedly said he had demanded she leave her second husband and remarry him – which she refused to do.

Ms Shahid had filed for divorced and married her second husband in the UK.