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Female singer Sumbul Khan murdered by gunmen in Pakistan because she refused to perform at party, police say

Attackers reportedly attempt to abduct the performer, who was shot dead when she resisted

Caroline Mortimer
Saturday 03 February 2018 22:06 GMT
The Guides Memorial in Mardan. Sumbul Iqbal was shot dead at her home in the city
The Guides Memorial in Mardan. Sumbul Iqbal was shot dead at her home in the city

Three gunmen have shot and killed a female singer and actress who refused to perform for them at a private party in Pakistan, police say.

The attackers broke into the home of Sumbul Khan in the northwestern city of Mardan and tried to abduct her to perform at a private party.

When she tried to resist she was shot several times and killed.

One of the accused, Naeem Khattak, is a former police officer who has since been arrested, the Pakistan Express Tribune reported.

Two other men are believed to be on the run.

Police official Saeed Khan said the perpetrators fled the scene after the killing and that the police are searching for them.

The 25-year-old performer was well known for her roles in several Pakistani TV shows.

There have been similar attacks on female artists in this part of the country in the past.

Ms Khan's death comes just over a year since the murder of actress and dancer Kismat Baig in Lahore.

The star was shot 11 times in the legs, stomach and hands by passing a gunman on a motorcycle while she was been driven home from performing in a stage play in November 2016.

Her driver was also shot but recovered.

Police say the attackers were waiting for her when she left the theatre and one reportedly told her she would “not be able to dance” anymore before fleeing the scene.

Women’s rights have been in the spotlight in deeply conservative Pakistan after a six-year-old girl was raped and strangled before being left on a rubbish dump in Kasur – a city south of Lahore.

Demonstrators in the city said the authorities were doing little to stop the spate of abductions, sexual assaults and murders of women and girls in the past two years.

Inspired by the protests and the #metoo movement in the West, Maheen Khan, a Pakistani fashion designer, revealed she had been abused by a cleric who was supposed to be teaching her the Koran as a child.

She said: “We are now saying enough is enough. We should have woken up long ago.

“I am ashamed to say it has taken this one little girl's death.

“What disturbs me the most is the silence when a little girl gets raped.

“It has to do with the honour of family. Parents tell their daughters: ‘Don't talk about it. Don't tell anyone.’ Our silence is saying it is all right to sexually molest a child.”

Women and girls suffer from widespread discrimination and violence in Pakistan.

Many have been killed in “honour killings”, for refusing to marry a certain man or for rejecting sexual advances.

Meanwhile some small village councils have been known to order the rape of women as a punishment for their male family members, even though this is illegal under Pakistani law.

Additional reporting by agencies

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