A British law graduate murdered in Pakistan on Monday died from bullet wounds to her neck and arm, a post mortem has revealed.
Forensic examiners said Mayra Zulfiquar, 24, bled to death, as they effectively ruled out strangulation after initial reports suggested it may have been used in the killing.
Mayra, originally from Feltham in south west London, also had bruising on her right hand and left foot, according to the report.
It is thought the Briton was killed after four men broke into the rented apartment in Lahore where she was staying on Monday with a friend.
Police believe the killing was a ‘crime of passion’ carried out after Mayra rejected marriage proposals from two of her alleged attackers.
Police are now hunting for those two men – named locally as Saad Ameer Butt and Zahir Jadoon – but have yet to make any arrests.
Mayra Zulfiquar, 24 a British law graduate found dead in Pakistan on Monday, bled to death from gunshot wounds in her neck and arm, a post mortem report has said
Mayra had been in Pakistan for just two months before she died. She had gone out for a cousin’s wedding but decided to stay after the country was placed on the UK’s Covid travel red list, a family member told Mail Online.
Police said they have opened a first information report (FIR) on the case after receiving a complaint from Ms Zulfiquar’s uncle, Lahore resident Mohammad Nazeer.
The FIR said Mr Nazeer was aware of two men who had been acting aggressively towards Mayra and threatened her with ‘dire consequences’ if she refused them, and had vowed to speak with the pair.
But on Monday he got a call from Mayra’s father in London to say she had been shot to death.
Police were informed of the attack by an anonymous tipster and rushed round to the apartment to find Mayra in a pool of blood.
It is thought they then informed Mayra’s father, who made the call to her uncle.
Mayra’s parents are thought to have flown from London to Lahore today to attend her funeral service which was held within 24 hours of her death in keeping with Islamic tradition, Sky News reports.
Ziaur Rehman, who runs a market stall in Feltham, told the site: ‘Her father called me on Monday and asked me to come to his house.
‘He was crying, I sensed there was something wrong, then I went there and the news was shocking.
‘Her mother she is really struggling now, she is not well at all.’
Sayyed Ali, an operations superintendent at Punjab Police, told Pakistani newspaper Dawn that Mayra had been found in her room with her phone near her body.
It is thought Mayra was killed when four men broke into the Lahore apartment where she was staying with a friend (pictured)
Police are now hunting two men thought to have organised the raid after Mayra rejected marriage proposals from both of them
‘We are also after two suspects and will share further details at a later stage,’ Mr Sayyed added. ‘We have seized the mobile phone for forensic analysis.’
Mr Sayyed also said police are analysing footage from nearby CCTV cameras in the hope of finding suspects.
Another senior police source told the BBC that addresses in Islamabad and Lahore are being targeted in raids.
Ms Zulfiquar’s parents are expected to arrive in Lahore from their home in London later this week.
In a statement, Duncan Blackett Law said Ms Zulfiqar had been briefly enrolled on its legal mentorship programme before it was postponed as a result of the coronavirus outbreak and she was an ‘excellent mentee who demonstrated a keen interest in commercial law’.
Gracie Duncan, of Duncan Blackett Law, told the Daily Mail: ‘She was a lovely girl, very quietly spoken, very keen to learn and to get into the profession. I am very shocked to learn what has happened to her.’
The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office said in a statement: ‘We are supporting the family of a British woman who died in Pakistan and are urgently seeking more information from the local authorities.
‘Our thoughts are with the family at this difficult time.’
Dawn reported Ms Zulfiquar had dual British-Belgian citizenship.
According to a family source who spoke to Mail Online, Mayra had decided to stay in the country after Pakistan was placed on the UK’s Covid red list of countries – meaning she would have to pay £1,750 for a stay in a quarantine hotel on her return.
Mayra had allegedly complained to relatives about the cost of the ten-day quarantine, saying she preferred to sit it out in Pakistan in the hope that it would be removed from the red list next month.
A family source said: ‘She didn’t want to come back and pay all that money to quarantine in Britain so decided to stay in Lahore, where she was living with her grandmother.
Ms Zulfiqar (pictured) is understood to have gone to Pakistan around two months ago to attend a cousin’s wedding, and stayed after the country was put on the Covid travel red list
‘She was angry that it was too much money for ten days in a grotty hotel. Instead, she thought she’d have more fun in Lahore and was having a lovely time after making a new group of friends.’
The family source also revealed that Mayra had made three complaints to local police about being harassed by Saad Ameer Butt, one of two men who have been arrested.
The source added: ‘A local gangster who is closely connected to the police in Lahore took a shine to her but despite reporting him for harassment, they did nothing. The police are very corrupt over there and don’t take crimes against women seriously.’
Her murder is believed to have taken place in a house rented by one of her friends in the Defence area shortly after 4am.
Devout Muslim Mayra had just shared a meal with her pals before staring their Ramadan fast for the day.
Neighbours reported hearing screaming and at least two-gun shots before police arrived to find Mayra’s body in an upstairs bedroom, which had also been trashed.
Mayra had ambitions to be a lawyer and start her own law firm. Prior to travelling to Pakistan for the wedding, she did an internship with a legal company in Dubai.
Her mother and father, Muhammad flew to Pakistan on Tuesday morning just hours after finding out about Mayra’s death. They have three other sons who have remained at the family home and are being consoled by friends and relatives.
The family source said: ‘As you can imagine, the family is devastated. Mayra was a beautiful, fun, intelligent girl and a dutiful daughter and sister.
‘The parents had to go to Pakistan to make sure that the police find her killer because they felt helpless sitting in London while waiting for news.’