Man stabs woman in Noida
Man stabs woman in NoidaWikimedia commons

A special investigation team has been formed to look into the alleged murder of a British woman in Pakistan last week. The victim's husband has claimed the murder be treated as an "honour killing."

The victim, Samia Shahid (28) from Brandford, is believed to be killed by her relatives when she was visiting her relatives in Punjab province of Pakistan about a week ago. A murder probe has been launched after Shahid's second husband Syed Mukhtar Kazam (30) alleged foul play.

Kazam, who married to Shahid in 2014 and has been living in Dubai since then, said: "There was frothing at her mouth. I suspect she was poisoned," Daily Mail reported.

According to media reports, it is alleged that Shahid was tricked into travelling to Pakistan and was later killed for marrying against her family's wishes. "This is a straight forward case of honour killing," Kazam told XPRESS news. He also added that her family never approved their love marriage.

This was Shahid's second marriage. She was earlier married to a cousin called Mohammed Shakeel from her family village in Pandori in north Pakistan. She reportedly claimed she was forced into marrying her first husband.

Meanwhile, the local police in Pakistan have sped up the investigation.

Kazam lodged a police complaint in Islamabad on Saturday claiming that Shakeel and his in-laws murdered his wife. Soon after the complaint was registered, Shakeel is believed to have fled from Pandori, which is 80 kilometres south of Islamabad, the Guardian reported.

On Monday, Shahid's father was briefly arrested but later released.

On Wednesday, some senior police officers in Punjab province as well as agents who belonged to Pakistan's military intelligence searched houses in Pandori (where Shahid's extended family lived).

A regional police officer from Rawalpindi told the Guardian that the police was still currently investigating whether Shahid killed herself or was poisoned.