The wife of one of the victims of CIA contractor Raymond Davis was murdered by her father at their residence in Lahore on Monday over her plans to remarry. He also killed her mother following the dispute, purportedly not just over their daughter's plans to remarry but also the blood money that the U.S. paid her to secure the release of Mr. Davis.
Police said Zahra, widow of Faizan Haider, and her mother, Nabeela, were shot dead by her father, Shahzad Butt, at their residence. He apparently wanted Ms. Zahra to marry Faizan's brother while the women were against that marriage. There were also rumours that Ms. Zahra had secretly married another man about a month ago and her father got to know about it only now, resulting in the dispute.
Blood money
Speculations were rife that Mr. Butt was against Zahra marrying outside the family because he wanted the sizable amount of money that was paid to Faizan's family members as blood money to remain within the closed circle. Affidavits filed by the families of the victims of Mr. Davis on March 16, 2011, before his release showed that a total of $2.3 million had been paid to the two families.
Mr. Davis had gunned down two Pakistanis in broad daylight in a busy crossing of Lahore — reportedly in self-defence — towards the end of January 2011, resulting in a major stand-off between the U.S. and Pakistan that stretched on for a month-and-a-half.
