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How a Harvard dream ended in tragedy for a Pakistani family

By · Published by Everything Blog

In short

Twenty-four-year-old physics gold medallist Laiba Ijaz died in a suspected suicide after falling victim to a fraudulent overseas university scheme in Islamabad. Her family liquidated significant personal assets, including land and jewellery, after a scammer presented elaborate forged paperwork. The primary suspect was later apprehended but died in custody after his accomplices initiated a shootout. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi personally stepped in to deliver recovered funds back to the bereaved household.

Key points

  • Severe admissions fraud drove an accomplished young physicist to a suspected suicide in I…: Severe admissions fraud drove an accomplished young physicist to a suspected suicide in Islamabad.
  • Deceptive schemes can drain entire family fortunes through falsified academic credentials…: Deceptive schemes can drain entire family fortunes through falsified academic credentials and immigration paperwork.
  • Pakistani authorities successfully recovered and returned over five million rupees to the…: Pakistani authorities successfully recovered and returned over five million rupees to the victim's grieving relatives.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

A 24-year-old physics graduate dies after her family pays millions to a man who lied about getting her admitted into the university.

Islamabad, Pakistan – The sign above the Rana Malik Center, a dairy shop in Islamabad’s G-10 neighbourhood, advertises milk, fresh yoghurt, lassi and desi ghee. Rana Muhammad Ijaz has lived with his family in the apartment above for more than three decades.

Sitting outside his shop in late October, Ijaz recalled how his youngest daughter, Laiba, would make tea for him every morning and then again at night before bedtime.

“She used to massage my shoulders before I went to bed too.” he told Al Jazeera.

Ijaz sat outside his shop, remembering her. “Now that she is gone, I miss it all.”

Laiba Ijaz, 24, a physics gold medallist from the publicly funded International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI), was found dead near her home on October 9.

According to the initial findings of a police case, she likely died by suicide after she and her family were defrauded of millions of rupees – tens of thousands of dollars…

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