Shockwaves are reverberating across Yorùbáland and the global Yorùbá diaspora following the sudden death of the Baba Ọba (King’s Father) of the famed Oyotunji African Village in South Carolina, USA. The late Baba Ọba, Lukman Arohunfale, a revered socialite and traditionalist, passed away under circumstances already sparking fierce controversy. His death comes just days after he publicly accused the newly installed Alaafin of Oyo, His Imperial Majesty Oba Akeem Adéyẹmọ Owoade, of allegedly ordering his courtiers to beat him mercilessly during a recent courtesy visit to the Oyo palace in Nigeria. In a widely circulated voice recording, the deceased recounted how what was meant to be a simple homage turned violent. Although the Baba Ọba had reportedly battled ill health in the past year, growing insinuations suggest that the alleged physical assault may have aggravated his condition, ultimately leading to his untimely death. The palace in Oyo recently denied that s...
The father suspected of involvement in his beauty therapist daughter’s “honour killing ” has died.
Samia Shahid, 28, from Bradford in West Yorkshire, was allegedly raped and strangled by her ex-husband, her cousin Mohammed Shakeel, while visiting relatives in Punjab, Pakistan, in 2016.He is awaiting trial for her murder.
Her father, Chaudhry Muhammad Shahid, 52, was accused of helping him and was released on bail.
But he died on Sunday in a hospital in Lahore, his family confirmed to the BBC although the cause of death has not yet been announced.
Following her murder, it was initially claimed that Ms Shahid had died of a heart attack, but a post-mortem exam revealed she had in fact been strangled.
Ms Shahid entered into an arranged marriage to her abusive cousin Shakeel at her family’s request, but the marriage quickly broke down.
She secretly divorced and married her second husband, Syed Mukhtar Kazam, in Leeds in 2014 before the couple moved to Dubai.
Mr Kazam now claims that his wife was killed because her family disapproved of their marriage.
In a BBC programme called Murdered for Love?, Mr Kazam said he felt a “helpless” fear when he dropped his wife at the airport to travel to Pakistan to join her apparently ailing father and her family, who were in the country for a funeral.
Days later, she was dead and her first husband and her father were arrested in connection with her murder.
Samia’s uncle told the BBC that her relatives deny all of the allegations.
Almost 1,000 women are murdered in Pakistan each year for violating conservative norms around love, marriage and public behaviour according to estimates.
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