Riddle of why this Scots woman died in Pakistan

For years Sobia Wali, a Scottish Muslim from Glasgow, defied the wishes of her parents and brothers to be with Usman Gulzar.

Their relationship fuelled bad blood between the families involved, and so she decided their marriage at Glasgow Register Office on 27 December had to be kept secret from her parents, Safia and Mohammed.

To make the situation even more complicated, the 22-year-old was pregnant at the time of her marriage.

The call-centre worker had been afraid to tell her parents of her pregnancy and the secret marriage because of the scandal it would bring.

The couple were intending to live in a flat in Cessnock in the south of Glasgow, where Mr Gulzar and his family live.

But a family dispute over a daughter's choice of partner took a tragic turn during a visit to Pakistan to attend her grandmother's funeral.

It emerged yesterday that Ms Wali went to hospital after travelling to the country on 15 January with her mother and brothers Imran, Usman and Bilal, but the details remain unclear.

Some reports say she underwent an abortion procedure in a hospital in Gujranwala – something that is outlawed in Pakistan unless it is to save the woman's life or for other health reasons – but was moved to a better private unit in Lahore after she began bleeding.

According to other reports from Pakistan, relatives have claimed that Ms Wali was rushed to hospital after she began bleeding heavily on 21 January. They said that she was then moved to a hospital in Chatta and finally transferred to the Surgimed Hospital in Lahore, where she died last Thursday.

Friends at home were left feeling suspicious and her husband demanded a police inquiry.

Much of the mystery comes from the apparently conflicting stories that have emanated from Pakistan about her death.

Mr Gulzar, 24, told friends he received text messages from his wife the day before she died, asking for his help.

A source reportedly said that family friends in Glasgow had been told, also via text messages, that she had either died from food poisoning or from a virus.

The texts may well have come from distressed family members who could not bring themselves to tell people the truth, that she had been pregnant out of wedlock and had died from an abortion gone wrong.

But one question Strathclyde Police will want answered is how involved Ms Wali's parents were in the decision to have an abortion.

Friends of Ms Wali are understood to be suspicious. One source told The Scotsman that members of the Gulzar family believed Ms Wali may have been forced to have an abortion.

But her father yesterday rejected any suggestion he could somehow have been involved.

"Can a father kill her daughter? No, no chance.

"I loved that girl. I've become useless now. I sit like a dead body now. I used to have two daughters, now just one."

Her father said that he would not necessarily have rejected Mr Gulzar as a suitor. "I would have had to think about it, wouldn't say yes immediately, wouldn't even do that with relatives," he said.

The Scotsman understands that her family are to be interviewed by police following their return to Glasgow today.

Meanwhile, 4,000 miles away in Lahore, the British High Commission has begun its own investigation after receiving a copy of the hospitals' medical reports and death certificate. It has been reported that Ms Wali died from a heart attack.

Officials yesterday did nothing to quell the speculation by refusing to discuss any details surrounding the case.

One suggestion that Ms Wali's body may be exhumed for a post-mortem examination was met with the following response from a spokesman: "I'm not going to be able to say anything about that."

Although there is no suggestion that Ms Wali was deliberately harmed, representatives from the Muslim community have rejected speculation that her abortion was linked to her parents' disapproval of the pregnancy.

Nughmana Mirza, a spokeswoman for Amina, a Muslim women's resource centre, said: "There is peer pressure, tensions between parents and children, and boyfriend trouble in every community. I'd find it upsetting if people equate this with a Muslim issue."

Mohammad Sarwar, MP for Glasgow Central, cautioned against speculation as the full circumstances surrounding Ms Wali's death had yet to emerge.

But he added: "This is a very tragic case and if there are lessons to be learned from her death, then we must learn them."

He said he had been kept regularly informed by Strathclyde detectives, but said that he knew "no more than what is in the papers".

"I am encouraged that the local community have assisted them fully.

"This is a difficult time for friends, family and the community and I know we will support one another during this time of sadness," he said.

A spokesman for Strathclyde Police said they were receiving the full co-operation of Glasgow's Muslim community "at this time of great sadness".

"There is a dedicated team of police officers working in the local area to reassure the public and establish the factual circumstances," he said.

"It is noted that there is considerable speculation in the media and the community; however, Strathclyde Police are committed to establishing the facts through a thorough investigation of the circumstances.

"Naturally, the investigation encompasses international co-operation and everything possible is being carried out at this time including ongoing liaison with community leaders."

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said that officials would leave the investigation to the police.

He said: "We normally extend consular assistance to the family if they need assistance, but it is a police investigation.

"We would be kept informed."