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Pakistan police submit charges in UK woman's murder case

Associated Press
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A Pakistani police officer, second right, escorts father Muhammad Shahid, right, and ex-husband Muhammad Shakeel of slain British-Pakistani woman Samia Shahid to a court in Jhelum in eastern Pakistan, Friday, Sept. 23, 2016. Pakistani police have submitted initial charges to a court against the two men for holding their trial for killing her, court officials and a defense lawyer said. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed) (The Associated Press)

Pakistani police officers escort father Muhammad Shahid, second right, and ex-husband Muhammad Shakeel, third right, of slain British-Pakistani woman Samia Shahid to a court in Jhelum in eastern Pakistan, Friday, Sept. 23, 2016. Pakistani police have submitted initial charges to a court against the two men for holding their trial for killing her, court officials and a defense lawyer said. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed) (The Associated Press)

Pakistani police officers escort ex-husband Muhammad Shakeel, bottom center, and father Muhammad Shahid, top right, of slain British-Pakistani woman Samia Shahid to a court in Jhelum, in eastern Pakistan, Friday, Sept. 23, 2016. Pakistani police have submitted initial charges to a court against the two men for holding their trial for killing her, court officials and a defense lawyer said. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed) (The Associated Press)

Court officials and a defense lawyer say Pakistani police have submitted initial charges to a court against the father and ex-husband of a British-Pakistani woman accused of murdering her in a so-called "honor killing."

Defense lawyer Mohammad Arif says the trial of Mohammad Shahid and Mohammad Shakeel will begin on September 27 for their alleged role in the murder of 28-year-old Samia Shahid, who was found dead in July at her family's home in Pakistan's Punjab province.

The two accused men appeared before a judge on Friday. The woman's family initially claimed she had died of natural causes. But police now say her father stood guard while Shakeel raped her and afterward both men strangled her.