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Sajida Tasneem: Heartfelt tributes for Perth woman killed in Pakistan

Headshot of Kellie Balaam
Kellie BalaamThe West Australian
Sajida Tasneem was allegedly murdered by her father-in-law in Sargodha district of Punjab.
Camera IconSajida Tasneem was allegedly murdered by her father-in-law in Sargodha district of Punjab. Credit: Unknown/Supplied

A close friend of the Perth woman who was allegedly killed with an axe by her father-in-law in Pakistan has paid tribute to the young mother, describing her death as a “loss for eternity which will be remembered forever”.

Sajida Tasneem was allegedly hacked to death in the afternoon of June 11 in her father-in-law’s family home in Sargodha — a couple of hundred kilometres from Pakistan’s capital Islamabad.

Ms Tasneem felt pressured by her husband, Ayub Ahmad, to leave their Perth home and relocated to Pakistan on November 26, 2019, a friend close to the woman told The West.

When she returned to Pakistan, her father-in-law, Mukhtar Ahmad, allegedly confiscated her passport after her husband’s parents opposed her decision of wanting to live in Australia.

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Ms Tasneem’s close friend, who resides in Perth and wished to stay anonymous, said the world had lost a “beautiful soul”.

“Words aren’t enough to describe Sajida but she was a beautiful soul. Well educated with a positive and humble personality,” the friend said.

“A cheerful lady and a wonderful mother raising her kids by providing them with her best. She was so loving and caring and close knit to the community.

“Her loss is a loss for eternity which will be remembered forever.”

Ms Tasneem, who gained her Australian citizenship, moved to Perth in 2013 where she lived in Balcatta with her three young children.

Her LinkedIn profile states she was a graduate of civil engineering from NED University in Karachi with experience in aviation as an air traffic controller.

Before her death, Ms Tasneem worked in digital marketing and management.

She described herself as “ambitious and passionate about contributing to a better world through creativity”.

Police in Pakistan confirmed Mr Ahmad had been taken into custody and charged with murder.

The investigation is ongoing.

Yasmin Khan, the director of the Bangle Foundation, an unfunded and voluntary group in Brisbane that helps women from South Asian communities to escape domestic violence and abuse, labelled Ms Tasneem’s death as “tragic”.

“For women from South Asian communities, this is a very real scenario, where women go from their father’s home to their husband’s home after marriage,” she said.

“As a new daughter-in-law coming into this environment, the family politics can be difficult to navigate, and if the personalities or lifestyles, don’t align, there will be tensions within the relationship that can lead to abuse and violence.”

“Customs and traditions over many centuries, have conditioned women to believe that to have terrible in-laws is a price one must pay or part of the life they must now endure.”

Ms Khan said this attitude needed to change.

“Unfortunately, many South Asian men can still be strongly influenced by their parents, and that’s why we see the domestic abuse we do, and unfortunately, women suffer,” she said.

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