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Brit Family Shot Dead In Pakistan After Row

22 May 2010 00:29 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. A British couple and their daughter shot dead in Pakistan were killed after the break-up of their son’s arranged marriage to a local woman ended in a family feud, APA reports quoting â€œSky Newsâ€.
Mohammad Yousaf, 51, and Pervaze Bibi Yousaf, 49, and their daughter Tania, 23, from Nelson in Lancashire, were gunned down in a cemetery.
Sky’s north of England correspondent Mike McCarthy said the shooting happened after a row broke out between the family and relatives of one of their son’s wives.
The family were in Pakistan for the wedding of another of their sons, Asad, 24.
"What’s emerging here is a family feud," McCarthy said.
"What happened was that Mr Yousaf and his wife went to Pakistan with their family to celebrate their son’s wedding.
"While they were there apparently a row developed with the family of one of their son’s wives and that developed into a full blown row at a cemetery."
One friend of the family said the feud was sparked by the breakdown of the arranged marriage of their son, Kamar, to his cousin.
McCarthy said family members had urged the Yousaf family not to visit Pakistan.
Friend Mohammed Iqbal, who sits on Pendle Borough Council and Lancashire County Council, told Sky News there had been "problems" between the couple, who are reported to have been married for around 12 years and had two children.
"They were leaving the graveyard of someone that had passed away. It was a family dispute that obviously went horribly wrong," said Mr Iqbal.
"Mr Yousaf’s son was married to a girl from Pakistan and there have been some problems with the marriage and that’s the dispute that’s happened."
Tania was married with two children.
Another woman, described by the Reuters news agency as the family’s host, also died in the attack.
Family member, Eileen Ansar, said the family were attacked by four men.
Ms Ansar, a councillor in the Clover Hill ward in Nelson, said Mr Yousaf had three sons and three daughters.
She said despite the family arguing over the marriage Mr Yousaf had treated his daughter-in-law well and "treated her like his own daughter".
She added: "It is an absolute tragedy. You could not meet nicer people, they never did harm to anyone. It has destroyed the family."
Ms Ansar said around 70 members of the extended family flew out to Pakistan following news of the deaths.
Gujrat police said one of the attackers had been arrested while they were hunting for two others. Another was accidentally shot by the attackers, they said.
A Foreign Office spokesman said it was investigating.
A statement from Lancashire police said the force had been informed of the incident and were liaising with the authorities in Pakistan to establish what has happened.