WASHINGTON: “It’s painful to walk away from someone you once loved. But it is even more painful to love someone who is careless than your heart,” wrote 29-year-old Pakistani-American Sania Khan in one of her last social media posts.
Earlier this week, her husband Raheel Ahmed, 36, arrived at her home in a Chicago suburb, shot her to death and then killed herself.
To do this he traveled more than 700 miles from Alpharetta, Georgia to Streeterville, Illinois.
On Thursday, Sania’s father Haider Farooq Khan posted a brief announcement on his daughter’s Facebook page saying: “My eldest daughter Sania Khan passed away.
His funeral will take place on Thursday at the Chattanooga Islamic Center after the Asr prayers. Please keep us in your prayers.”
The family lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
As per the details, the couple was going through divorce proceedings and Sania had moved from Alpharetta to Chicago where she was doing professional photography.
Chicago Tribune Told that the police officers went to Sania Khan’s apartment at around 4.30 pm on Monday after receiving a call for welfare check.
When they arrived, they heard shots fired and a man moaning. Inside, officials found Sania dead near the door. He had a bullet wound in the back of his head, Chicago Sun-Times informed of.
Raheel was found in a bedroom with a head injury. The police found a pistol in his hand and a suicide note was also found nearby.
Raheel was taken to Northwestern Hospital where she was declared brought dead. Later, the Cook County coroner confirmed both deaths.
Police went to Sania’s apartment where she lived after Raheel’s family reported her missing from an Atlanta suburb.
According to the Alpharetta police officer, the two were going through a divorce.
“RIP Sania Khan! She decided to end an abusive marriage, but her ex-husband killed her,” said a note on her Facebook page.
“Unfortunately, he did not get support from his family or society. Indigenous people care more about their reputation than their child’s happiness,” the note said, reminding South Asian parents that “a divorced daughter is better than a dead daughter!”
Before being shot, Sania Khan posted a video on TikTok about how difficult it was for a South Asian woman to get a divorce.
Published in Dawn, July 22, 2022