THE husband of a young Bradford woman, claimed to have been the victim of a so-called honour killing, has revealed he is living in fear after being threatened.

Syed Mukhtar Kazam told the Telegraph & Argus he was “running scared” in Pakistan, moving from place to place on a daily basis because of the threats.

His wife, Samia Shahid, 28, from Oak Lane, Manningham, died in Pakistan last week after travelling to visit her father, whom she had been told was seriously ill.

Mr Kazam flew to Pakistan, from their home in Dubai, after being told of his wife’s death.

Pakistan Police have launched a murder investigation, after it was originally suggested Ms Shahid had died of natural causes.

Mr Kazam claims she was murdered in an honour killing, because of her marriage to him. Her family has strongly denied any involvement in her death.

It has emerged that Ms Shahid was found with a bruise, measuring 19 centimetres in length, on her neck - even though the original report from a post-mortem examination indicated there were no physical marks on her.

Speaking from Pakistan yesterday, Mr Kazam told the T&A he was waiting for the full report of the forensic post-mortem but the evidence he had seen clearly showed the bruise on her neck.

He said: “There have been different suggestions about how she died - a heart attack, a fall down the stairs, suicide, now they are saying it was a natural death because she was asthmatic and diabetic. It is absolute rubbish. Her death was far from natural.

“I have given the evidence to the police and it is for them to investigate it.”

Mr Kazam said the original police and medical experts had been summonsed to an official hearing next week to describe their actions in the investigation.

He said: “They will have to attend that hearing. I am encouraged by that. It is a positive step by the Government.”

Mr Kazam said a new police team from a different region had been drafted in to take over the investigation.

“I shall be meeting with the new police chief. I hope it will be a positive change.”

Mr Kazam revealed that he, and those supporting him, have been receiving threats in Pakistan.

He said: “The people standing by me have been getting phone calls with threats to shoot them, and me. I feel that I could die at any moment.

“I don’t know many people here and I cannot take any security measures. I am running away to save my life. I am having to move from place to place. Every night I have to go to a different place to sleep. I cannot stay in one place for more than a few hours. I am scared someone will attack me.”

Mr Kazam said he was getting support from the authorities for his case - but not for his safety.

He praised the Foreign Office for putting pressure on the Pakistani government.

Bradford West MP Naz Shah, who has taken up the case on behalf of Mr Kazam, said she had seen photographs of Ms Shahid’s neck, and they were “very disturbing.”

“They clearly show the mark around her neck, which is very visible,” said Ms Shah. “That is despite them saying originally that there were no physical marks on her body.”

Ms Shah said the Interior Minister in Pakistan had taken full responsibility for the case. He had assigned two senior officers to it and called a hearing next week, to which all police officers and medics in the case would be called, to establish how the investigation started.

She said: “They have got some concerns. It is extremely unusual. I am very pleased with how the Pakistani authorities are dealing with this. It has really surprised me.

“I think it is because a law on honour killings has just reached the draft stage. They want to avoid any international embarrassment. Pakistan has the opportunity not to be seen as a state where people can do what they want. That is really important.”

Ms Shahid married Mr Kazam in Leeds in September 2014 after she left her first husband, a cousin from Pakistan who has now been granted “pre-arrest bail” and is expected to offer himself to police for interview.