Pakistani family mourns daughter after alleged Harvard admission fraud

For Rana Muhammad Ijaz, the loss of his youngest daughter is felt in the daily routines they shared above his dairy shop in Islamabad’s G-10 neighbourhood. Laiba made his tea each morning and before bedtime. On October 9, the 24-year-old physics gold medallist was found dead near the home where her family has lived for more than three decades.

Initial police findings suggest Laiba died by suicide after an alleged fraud involving a promised place at Harvard University cost her family millions of rupees. Her relatives reject that assessment, and investigators say inquiries into her death continue. Muhammad Noman, the man accused of deceiving them, was arrested on October 11 and died after being shot in police custody on October 20.

Laiba graduated from the publicly funded International Islamic University Islamabad and had studied on scholarships, her father told Al Jazeera. All four of Ijaz’s daughters attended university, although he left school after eighth grade and his wife after grade 10. Laiba taught science at a school and tutored younger children. Her university offered her a scholarship to Saudi Arabia, but she hoped to continue her education in the United States.

She met Noman earlier this year while working at a call centre in Islamabad’s Blue Area. After she left that job, he began visiting her father’s shop. Ijaz said Noman claimed to be a Supreme Court employee, produced a service card and offered to help with Laiba’s application. The family accepted, believing his credentials were authentic.

According to Ijaz, the payments began with 2.2 million rupees ($7,900) for university fees. Noman subsequently said Harvard required proof of 7.2 million rupees ($25,900), insisting that the funds go through his account for conversion into dollars. Ijaz sold a plot of land and family jewellery to meet that demand. The application file included purported Harvard admission and scholarship letters, immigration paperwork and a business-class ticket to Boston.

The family received the final file in late September, with what Ijaz said was an October 12 visa interview appointment. After Noman became evasive, they consulted a travel agent, who identified the ticket as fake. A lawyer neighbour then examined the file and said none of its documents was genuine. Ijaz said they learned this around October 6, although Laiba still hoped Harvard and US authorities might consider a genuine application.

On October 9, Laiba told her father that Noman had messaged to say he would visit. She later left home despite her mother’s objections, Ijaz said. Relatives used an app to locate her phone and found her body nearby at about 3:30pm, less than two hours after she had gone out.

Police said four men on motorcycles shot Noman while trying to free him as officers escorted him to recover evidence. That attack remains under investigation, with no arrests reported. On October 21, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi gave the family more than 5 million rupees ($18,000) that officials said had been recovered from Noman.

The Federal Investigation Agency said Noman was not a registered visa agent. An industry association says Pakistan does not regulate education consultancies. Meanwhile, a senior police official told Al Jazeera that preliminary postmortem findings indicated suicide and further forensic results were awaited. Laiba’s family continues to dispute that conclusion, with Ijaz accusing Noman of killing her.