An Australian woman has reportedly been killed by her father-in-law in Pakistan amid a fracture to take her children to Australia. The BBC reports that Sajida Tasneem, 32, wanted to return to Australia with her three children for a better education. which his in-laws opposed.
Her father, Sher Muhammad Khan, told police that his daughter was killed in front of him in the Sargodha district of Punjab.
The Age says it has verified a copy of Khan’s police report accusing his daughter’s father-in-law, Mukhtar Ahmad, of killing his daughter with an ax. Sajida Tasneem. (Supplied)
It is understood the local police have made an arrest.
According to a translation of a BBC report in Urdu, Tasneem studied engineering in Karachi and married in Pakistan in 2011. A few months later, the couple moved to Saudi Arabia, where their son was born. In 2013, Tasneem took a job in Perth and moved to Australia, where she gave birth to two daughters.
Her husband did not continue working in Australia and eventually took a job in Bahrain while his wife and three children stayed in Australia, where they had all received Australian citizenship, according to the BBC.
At her husband’s insistence, she eventually returned to Pakistan, where her father-in-law allegedly confiscated their passports.
“It simply came to our notice then.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman told The Age that consular assistance was being provided to the family.
Khan told the newspaper that her daughter was humble, polite and respectful to her elders and colleagues.
“He sacrificed his life for the good of his children,” he said.
“But he lost without achieving his goal.”