A British couple and their daughter were shot dead at a cemetery in rural Pakistan after an apparent dispute over their son’s failed arranged marriage with a local woman.
Mohammed Yousaf, 51, his wife, Pervaze Begum, 49, and daughter, Tania, 22, were in a village near Gujrat, in Punjab Province in the north east of the country when they were gunned down.
The family, from Nelson, Lancashire, northwestern England, had been visiting the country for the wedding of another son, Asad, 24, when they were ambushed as they paid respects at the grave of a relative.
Tania, a clerical assistant who was married with two sons, is thought to have survived the initial hail of bullets and used her mobile phone to called her husband in England.
Police said they believed the gunmen were related to the couple’s daughter-in-law, who is in the process of separating from their son, Kamar.
The estranged couple, who had two children, live in Manchester, England, and were not in Pakistan during the shooting.
One suspected gunman has been arrested and police said they were hunting for another two suspects. Another gunman and a Pakistani woman also died in the attack, which has fueled concern over British Pakistanis being the target of violent crimes while visiting the country.
The murders will be discussed with Pakistan’s prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gillani, when he visits Europe next month. The UK Foreign Office has been accused of failing to offer sufficient protection and support to Britons visiting Pakistan.
Tariq Abbas Qureshi, the police chief of Gujrat district, said the dispute over the failed marriage between Kamar Yousaf and his cousin was the probable motive for the shooting.
One alleged gunman, Qamar, aged between 25 and 30, has been arrested; two others are ready to hand themselves in, Qureshi said.
Sajjad Karim, a British Conservative MEP, and friend of the Yousafs since the 1980s, predicted the gunmen would be “back on the streets” in the coming months.
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