S'pore-based model found dead in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD - She was believed to be a model based in Singapore and had judged beauty pageants here.

Ms Fehmina Chaudhry, 27, had gone to Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, to buy a residential plot, news.com.pk reported.

Missing since Oct 10, her body was recovered from a river in Pakistan, the report said.

Ms Fehmina was allegedly kidnapped and murdered.

She wanted to move her mother, Ms Naushaba, to Islamabad from Karachi, Pakistan's financial centre, and had contacted an Islamabad-based property dealer, Mr Syed Maaz Waqar.

He asked her to go to Islamabad as he had good plots in some posh areas.

Ms Fehmina flew in on Oct 9 and stayed at the Margalla Hotel.

A day later, she went missing. Ms Naushaba, who reached Islamabad from Karachi two days later, made a police report. She said she last contacted her daughter at 6pm on Oct 10.

Ms Fehmina had told her mother she was going for a meeting regarding the plot. When Ms Naushaba tried to contact her daughter, her mobile phone was switched off.

Ms Fehmina was to leave for Singapore on Oct 11, but did not. Instead, Ms Naushaba received an SMS saying her daughter had been abducted.

The captors said Ms Fehmina was in their custody in Peshawar, close to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, with two other people, one of whom had been killed.

The kidnappers demanded 20 million Pakistan rupees (S$400,000) for her safe release.

The captors asked Ms Naushaba to arrange the ransom within two days and would send an SMS to her again.

Instead, her body was recovered from the river.

The police arrested a suspected who is said to have confessed to the crime.

He said he and a friend had killed Ms Fehmina and thrown her body in the Korang Nullahn in Islamabad.

Had Children

Her promoter in Pakistan, Mr Asif Hashmi, confirmed her death, and said she was married with a son and a daughter, AFP reported.

"She was a dedicated philanthropist and she was planning to set up a fashion school in Pakistan," Mr Hashmi said.

Online reports said Ms Chaudhry was an actress in Singapore and that she had won international beauty pageants in the last couple of years.

Other online reports claimed that she was also the celebrity judge for Indian Princess Singapore 2013.

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