The widow and mother-in-law of a Pakistani man killed by a CIA contractor last year were murdered on Monday, allegedly by the widow’s father who may have feared she would remarry and take the “blood money” she received with her, police said.
The families of the two men killed by Raymond Davis last January received hundreds of thousands of dollars in exchange for pardoning the killer, a common legal practice in Pakistan. The money normally goes to the wife if her husband was killed.
REMARRY
The widow, who was murdered on Monday in Lahore, Zohra Haider, wanted to remarry and was supported by her mother, Nabeela Bibi, police officer Athar Waheed said.
However, her father, Shahzad Butt, opposed the move, possibly because she would take her fortune with her when she remarried, Waheed said.
“We will investigate that aspect as a possible motive,” Waheed said.
ARGUMENT
Butt allegedly shot and killed his wife after having an argument about the issue in their house in a middle class neighborhood in Lahore that they bought with the blood money, Waheed said.
He chased his daughter as she tried to escape and allegedly shot and killed her in the street, Waheed said.
The shooter escaped.
Davis said he shot Haider’s husband, Faizan, and another Pakistani man last year because they tried to rob him as he was driving his car through Lahore. The US and Pakistan argued for nearly seven weeks over whether Davis had diplomatic immunity before the blood money was paid, and he was freed.
The US denied paying the compensation to the families, but many believe it was simply routed through Pakistani officials. Reports of the total payout varied from US$1 million to more than US$2 million.
A third Pakistani man was killed by a US vehicle rushing to the scene of the shootings, but the driver was never taken into custody.
The incident seriously damaged the already troubled relationship between Pakistan and the US, one that got worse only months later when US commandos killed Osama bin Laden in a covert raid in a Pakistani garrison town in May last year.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was