A Birmingham father was shot dead inPakistan, as he tried to protect his family from gunmen.
Azhar Iqbal, from Stechford was shot in the stomach when he wrestled with two men.
The incident happened on 11 January, near Mr Iqbal’s parents’ home inRawalpindi,North Pakistan.
He was returning from a shopping trip with his wife Rubana Mukhtar and stepdaughter Maha Munir when they were confronted by the gunmen.
The masked men approached the family in a street in the area,North Pakistanand demanded that they pass over their valuables.
The 39 year old passed over his mobile phone, before trying to fight the men off.
Rubana told reporters, “Azhar wasn’t scared when those men confronted us. He tried to push them away and died trying to protect me and Maha.”
British-born Rubana, who married Mr Iqbal in August 2008, said that she began to take off her rings when the struggle between her husband and the men took off.
Rubana was accidentally shot in the foot during the incident and sfter two more shots, she saw her husband fall to the ground.
“I opened his jacket to tend to the wound and by that time a crowd was gathering. They picked Azhar up to take him to hospital and I realised I had been shot, too,” she said.
Mr Iqbal was later taken to a military hospital, while Rubana was taken to a different one.
“The doctors and nurses were refusing to tend to him because they said a male relative needed to be present,” she added.
However, Rubana told reporters that she was struggling get support from the British Embassy in order to bring her husband’s killers to justice.
The Foreign Office and Birmingham MP John Hemming, who described the shooting as “horrendous”, have recently lent offered their help.
Mr Hemming said that his office had emailed the Foreign Office and that he would consider contacting the Pakistani authorities.
Rubana’s marriage to Mr Iqbal, who worked as a manager at the Halal meat counter in Asda,PerryBar, was her second and she told reporters that they were very happy together.
