Pakistani exchange student Sabika Sheikh,17, who was shot dead in Texas high school shooting last week, was laid to rest at Azeempura Graveyard located in the Shah Faisal Colony, amid tears and anguish. Her funeral prayers were offered at Hakeem Saeed Ground at 9am, which was attended by several political dignitaries including Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, Sindh Governor Mohammad Zubair, PSP Chief Mustafa Kamal, PPP leader Saeed Ghani, PTI Halim Adil Sheikh alongside family and friends of the victim. Security arrangements were tight at the venue.
Sabika, a Karachi teenager, was studying at Santa Fe High School in Texas on a US State Department scholarship. She was among the 10 people gunned down last Friday when a heavily armed student opened fire on classmates. As many as 100 police officers were deployed at the ground, where a bomb disposal squad had conducted a sweep to ensure security for attendees. Tents were set up to provide shade to the attendees in the scorching Karachi heat. Security personnel were also stationed at the buildings surrounding the ground.
Speaking to media after the funeral, Sindh Governor Mohammad Zubair offered his condolences to Sabika's family, and blamed security lapse in the US for shooting incidents.
"Sheikh was martyred in a terrorist incident in Texas. If Pakistan can reduce terrorism incidents, then so can the United States," he said.
Sabika Sheikh's body arrived in Karachi during the early hours of Wednesday. The foreign airline TK-708 carrying the body of Sheikh from Texas was earlier delayed due to bad weather. John E Warner, Acting US Consul General in Pakistan, was also present at the airport besides the family members and relatives of the deceased.
Later the body was transported to her residence in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, where her bereaved family and mourning friends and relatives were present. Her father, Abdul Aziz Sheikh, and her uncle Abdul Jaleel Sheikh accompanied the body from the airport to the residence in an ambulance.