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'PRAY I COME BACK ALIVE'

Chilling final texts of Brit woman murdered in Pakistani ‘honour killing’

Police believe the beautician was raped then murdered by her ex-husband

A BRITISH woman allegedly murdered in a Pakistan honour killing sent chilling texts to a friend before her flight fearing she would not return alive.

Samia Shahid, 28, was raped and murdered days after arriving in Pakistan in what police have called a "premeditated and cold-blooded honour killing".

 Beautician Samia Shahid was found raped and strangled in Pakistan
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Beautician Samia Shahid was found raped and strangled in Pakistan
 Police believe her first husband Muhammad Shakeel (pictured) killed her
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Police believe her first husband Muhammad Shakeel (pictured) killed herCredit: Universal News And Sport (Europe)

A day before boarding to her flight to Islamabad on July 14, Samia sent a text to pal Laila saying "pray I come back alive".

Police believe the beautician, from Bradford, was raped by ex-husband Muhammad Shakeel, who then strangled her with a scarf.

A report handed to the concludes that Samia's dad Muhammad held down his daughter's legs while Shakeel carried out the killing.

 Samia's second husband Mukhtar Kazim believes her murder was an honour killing
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Samia's second husband Mukhtar Kazim believes her murder was an honour killingCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
 He initially thought she had a heart attack until a post mortem showed she was strangled
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He initially thought she had a heart attack until a post mortem showed she was strangledCredit: Getty Images

Her second husband, Mukhtar Kazim, initially thought she had a died from a heart attack but a post-mortem confirmed she had been strangled.

He believes the murder was an honour killing because her family disapproved of their marriage.

Pakistani authorities believe the victim's father called local police at 1.32pm on July 21 to claim his daughter had died of natural causes.

Initially, Shahid allegedly attempted to cover up the cause of his daughter's death and claimed she was still married to his nephew.

The first officer on the scene, despite having 30 years experience, failed to notice Ms Shahid had a 19cm scar on her neck from where she was strangled.

The police report says Shahid could have "pardoned" his nephew if he had been charged with murder under Pakistan's 'blood money' laws, which allow grieving relatives to accept cash from a perpetrator instead of demanding a prison term.

The report claimed: "This way, he could have hidden this gory crime in almost a perfect plot."

According to Pakistani police, Shakeel was disappointed by his ex-wife because "she had divorced him ex parte in the UK".

Shakeel also said the divorce had cost him the opportunity of immigrating to the UK and becoming a British citizen.

Investigators found he had a criminal record and had been charged in 2010 with attempted murder.

 Samia married Mukhtar in 2014 but he says her family didn't approve
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Samia married Mukhtar in 2014 but he says her family didn't approve
 Her father and ex-husband have been taken into custody to appear in court
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Her father and ex-husband have been taken into custody to appear in courtCredit: AP:Associated Press

According to the report, Samia took precautions ahead of her trip - including withholding flight details from family and getting pals in Islamabad to keep hold of her passport and return tickets.

It concluded that Samia was strangled to death by Shakeel as her dad stood guard. Forensic and DNA tests also confirmed the 28-year-old was raped.

Her dad and ex-husband appeared in court on Monday in Jhelum after the police probe was completed and will now be held for 14 days pending charges and trial.

Lawyers for Shakeel and Shahid said the men will plead not guilty at their next court appearance on September 17.

Police in Pakistan also want to speak to Samia's mother, Imtiaz Bibi, and sister Madiha Shahid who were in the country at the time but returned to the UK.

Samia married her first husband in February 2012 but stayed only briefly in Pakistan before returning to England where she obtained a divorce two years later.

In 2014, she married her second husband and moved with him to Dubai where he works.


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