The Cause of Her Death

"The Pakistan High Commission in Canada approached the Canadian government to know the cause of her death."

"An official response in this regard is still awaited."

Pakistani High Commission

 

"It [death of Pakistani dissident] is currently being investigated as a non-criminal death"

"There are not believed to be any suspicious circumstances."
"The circumstances have been investigated and officers have determined this to be a non-criminal death and no foul play is suspected. We have updated the family."

Toronto Police

 

"We respect whatever the police says but we will never believe and accept that it was an accident. She was a brave woman."

"Her husband got messages from unknown people saying they would give a Christmas gift to Karima she will never forget."

Lateef Johar, friend and fellow activist, Toronto 

 

"I can't believe that it's an act of suicide."

“She was a strong lady and she left home in a good mood. We can’t rule out foul play as she has been under threats."

"She left Pakistan as her home was raided more than twice. Her uncle was killed."

"She was threatened to leave activism and political activities but she did not and fled to Canada."

Hammal Haider, Karima Mehrab's husband, refugee, activist

Karima Mehrab was found dead on Monday, one day after she was reported missing. (Toronto Police Service)

 

Refugee deemed inadmissible to Canada

Taha Siddiqui

@TahaSSiddiqui

Canada tried to block #KarimaBaloch refugee application in 2016 over false propaganda against her by Pakistan. Today Canada couldnt keep her safe after granting her refuge. They must now at least investigate her death as high profile case.

"A refugee named by the BBC as one of the world’s 100 most 'inspirational and influential' women in 2016 has had her asylum claim suspended by Ottawa because of her activism."

"Karima Mehrab was recognized by the British Broadcasting Corporation for her 'campaigns for independence for Balochistan', an area that had been under the British rule until 1947 and was later acceded to Pakistan as one of the country’s four provinces."  Toronto Star

Karima Mehrab was reported missing. When she was found, she was no longer alive. Her body was taken out of Lake Ontario in Toronto. The 37-year-old woman also known as Karima Baloch, was reported missing on Sunday, her body pulled out of winter-frigid Lake Ontario the following day. And the Toronto police believe no foul play was involved in her death. Their conclusion is not shared by friends of Karima Mehrab, known to have been threatened, to have received death threats.

She is wanted in her native Pakistan for action authorities there believe are consonant with terrorism. Which is to say in advocating for Baloch separation from Pakistan, for the return of sovereign Balochistan, a home for native Balochs, she is considered a terrorist. She doesn't advocate for violent overthrow of the government of Pakistan, she wants secession. A home restored, returned for her people. 

 

Police have refrained from public details, apart from informing her family that she had been found her drowned.

Her family can be forgiven for disagreeing with the assessment that no foul play was involved. The Baloch Student Organization had a leader in this woman advocating for the independence of ethnic Baloch living in Pakistan's southwest. Pakistani authorities have been accused by the group of violations of human rights in the area. Armed Baloch groups have taken up arms to fight against Pakistani security forces, for separation.

In 2015, Mehrab left Pakistan, exiling herself in the face of terrorism charges and death threats. In November of that year she arrived in Canada where ultimately she succeeded in her application for refugee status. The very day of her asylum hearing, her uncle who had been missing for a year and a half, believed to have been abducted by the military, was found dead in Pakistan. One side's hero is another side's terrorist. 

In Toronto, Mehrab continued acting on behalf of a future Balochistan, posting on social media, tweeting links to a newspaper story on the "disappeared" in Pakistan. She was named to the BBC's annual list of 100 inspirational and influential women, in 2016. At the University of Toronto, Mehrab was taking first-year courses. Her friend Johar's last contact with her was when they were both at a University of Toronto library, doing  research.

Both the government of Pakistan and the Pakistani military deny they had any involvement in the death of this young woman. There have been other mysterious deaths. In Sweden last May, journalist and refugee Sajid Hussain was pulled from a river weeks after he had disappeared. Police there felt it could have been an accident, but they did not rule out the possibility of foul play.

 

Karima Baloch is seen in a photo posted on her Twitter account, Dec. 15, 2016.