Sabika Sheikh to be laid to rest in Karachi tomorrow

Published
19

Sabika Sheikh, the 17-year-old Pakistani exchange student who was killed in Texas school shooting last week, will be laid to rest Wednesday morning, an uncle of the deceased girl said on Tuesday.

Sabika, a Karachi teenager, was studying at Santa Fe High School in Texas on a US State Department scholarship. She was among 10 students gunned down on Friday inside the school by another teenager with white supremacist tendencies.

While talking to the media in Karachi today, Jaleel Sheikh said Sabika's body will arrive from the United States at 4am since the Turkish Airlines flight carrying it was delayed due to bad weather. Her body was earlier scheduled to arrive at 9am today.

He said that her funeral prayers will be held at 9am at Gulshan-i-Iqbal's Hakeem Saeed Ground, following which she will be buried in the Azeempura graveyard in Shah Faisal Colony. He added that Hakeem Saeed Ground had been chosen because a large number of people wanted to attend her last rites.

Sabika's uncle said his family is in contact with Pakistani diplomats as well as local administration.

Her funeral prayers were also held in Houston on Sunday and were attended by the city's mayor, members of the Congress and a large number of citizens.

At the memorial, Sabika's host family in the United States, the Cogburns, had spoken fondly of her time with them in Texas, remembering her as a "daughter", a "most precious gift", great ambassador of Pakistan and a deeply loving person.

"We loved her, and we hate this horrific thing happened," Jason Cogburn, her host father, said at the service. "We are going to carry on the tradition of love she brought from Pakistan."

"She came here to represent Pakistan, and let me tell you, she represented it well. She will be very missed, and she will always be loved."

Opinion

Editorial

Kashmir unresolved
Updated 30 Sep, 2026

Kashmir unresolved

The just solution lies in India addressing the issue through a trilateral dialogue involving the legitimate representatives of the Kashmiri people and Pakistan.
Water shortage
30 Sep, 2026

Water shortage

THAT the country is entering the Rabi season with an anticipated water shortage of nearly 25pc, the lowest carryover...
Young hearts
30 Sep, 2026

Young hearts

THE observance may have passed, but the message of World Heart Day should not fade with it. The occasion is a useful...
Terror and politics
Updated 29 Sep, 2026

Terror and politics

There is an urgent need to tone down the rhetoric and tackle terrorism as a collective challenge for both the affected provinces and the federation.
Watching the glaciers
29 Sep, 2026

Watching the glaciers

THE latest signs from Pakistan’s mountains are worrying. Suparco says the number of unfrozen glacial lakes it...
Dangerous agenda
29 Sep, 2026

Dangerous agenda

AS the world remains fixated on the US-Iran conflict, elsewhere in the Middle East, Israel is consolidating its grip...