FOREIGN secretary Boris Johnson has been urged to step in after a Bradford woman died in Pakistan amid claims she may have been the victim of a so-called 'honour killing'.

Samia Shahid died in Pakistan last week amid fears that she had been murdered.

Miss Shahid had married a man of her choice against the wishes of her family, a friend said.

Yesterday (Tuesday), Bradford Police confirmed they had been called to the family home last year after she complained of harassment.

Her husband, Mukhtar Ali Kazam, is seeking a court order in Pakistan to exhume his wife’s body for an independent autopsy.

Bradford West MP Naz Shah yesterday met with senior police chiefs in Bradford and, last night, she called on Mr Johnson to intervene personally.

Ms Shah said: “The police’s hands are tied. We cannot start investigating until we know there is a crime.

“A post-mortem on Samia before she was buried was inconclusive. I am going to insist on a forensic post-mortem and I am writing to the Home Secretary to get his help. I believe the Pakistani authorities are not giving this the due diligence they should be, and I am writing to Boris Johnson to ask him to intervene personally.

"Miss Shahid’s husband is applying to the courts in Pakistan for an exhumation order in the next 48 hours because she was buried without his knowledge.”

Ms Shah had already written to Pakistan Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, asking him to ascertain how Miss Shahid died. She is also liaising with Foreign Office officials.

Miss Shahid, 28, died in Pakistan last week after flying there when she was told that her father was seriously ill. It was suggested she had died from a heart attack or asthma attack, but there are fears that she may have been poisoned.

The police officer running the investigation in Pakistan said there were no visible injuries or signs of violence on her body.

Ms Shah said she would not rest until she had found out how Miss Shahid died.

In her letter to Mr Sharif, she said: “From my years of experience around women’s rights, and work I have done around ‘honour crime,’ this case does fit that classic picture and circumstances of ‘honour killing.’

She told the Telegraph & Argus: “Samia went to Pakistan because she was told her dad was ill. She sent a text message to her husband last Wednesday, saying: ‘I am cooking tonight. I am going shopping. I’ll see you tomorrow.’ By 3pm her phone was switched off. At 10pm her husband got a phone call from a member of the family. He was told she had died of a heart attack and they had buried her.”

Miss Shahid met Mr Kazam two years ago. She married in Leeds and in May last year moved with her husband to Dubai, where he is from.

Mr Kazam said he married her after she left her first husband.

He told a national newspaper his wife had been healthy and he did not believe she had died naturally Miss Shahid’s father, who is in Pakistan, told the paper the allegations of an honour killing were “lies.”

He told the paper an investigation was under way and, if he was found guilty, he was ready for "every kind of punishment.”

He added that his daughter was living a "very peaceful and happy life" and had travelled to Pakistan on her own and under no pressure from her family.

Meanwhile, Mohammed Ali, a cousin in Bradford, told the national paper it was a "terrible tragedy" but she died of natural causes, adding that there was "no evidence whatsoever of murder.”

A close friend of Miss Shahid told the T&A: “She was living at home, in Oak Lane, Manningham, until she went to Dubai. The police were involved a handful of times last year after she called them.”

The friend, who does not want to be identified, said: “She was such a jolly, bubbly person, always had a smile on her face, and was always there to help you. The last time I saw her was at her birthday and she was so happy.”

Miss Shahid went to Nab Wood School and then worked in a florist shop, a post office and for an estate agent. She loved working as a make up artist for a hobby. Another friend said Mr Kazam had taken Miss Shahid to Dubai to start again. “He was really nice and caring, straightforward and humble.”

West Yorkshire Police confirmed they attended an address in Bradford last September, “where the victim was subjected to harassment. The offender received a warning and the victim was informed of the action taken.”

A spokesman added: “A report was made to West Yorkshire Police last week regarding the alleged death of a 28-year-old woman from Bradford in Pakistan. Following this report officers engaged with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, who have since confirmed her death. Inquiries are continuing with the relevant authorities to establish the cause.”

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: “We are providing support to the family of a British national who has died in Pakistan, and are in contact with the local authorities to seek further information.”