Perth dad accuses Pakistani authorities of corruption after daughter shot dead by police

The father of a young Perth girl shot dead by police in Pakistan is accusing local authorities of corruption. 

Adeel Ahmad alleges officers made him sign a blank document before he could receive hospital treatment following the death of daughter Hania Ahmad, 9.

She was shot in Chakwal, about 90 kilometres south of Islamabad, on June 10 after police pursuing armed robbers mistook the family’s hire car for a getaway car.

A Crime Control Department police officer opened fire on the rented Toyota, killing the girl and seriously injuring her brother and her father.

Footage showed a white Toyota hire car that the family of four was in littered with bullet holes.

In a complaint document submitted to local authorities in Pakistan, Ahmad claims after being shot he was pressured by officers to provide a signature and fingerprint on a blank document before being able to receive medical treatment. 

“Mr Adeel had no option to sign it because he lost his beautiful daughter and also his son, which was a young kid, was in a life and death situation,” Pakistani Association of WA vice president Ali Mardan Shah told 9News.

There are also accusations that authorities put incorrect information in their initial report. 

Local police said an officer fired his weapon believing he’d been shot at by thieves but Ahmad claimed police shot first.

University of Western Australia Centre for Muslim States and Societies director Professor Emerita Samina Yasmeen said the allegations reflected the issues with how the Crime Control Department had operated since it was created in 2025.

“It reflects the overall culture that has been part of the Pakistani law enforcement agencies, especially the police,” she told 9News. 

“There have been a lot of, sort of, reforms done, and there are some areas that are very well trained and then they follow the law, but in other cases, it tends not to happen.”

The local district police office has ordered a “fact-finding inquiry” be carried out to assess Ahmed’s concerns. The investigation into Hania’s death is ongoing.

“Hopefully the Pakistan government would take serious action,” Yasmeen said.

“They are indicating that they would but we have to see whether it translates into reality.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last month said the circumstances around the girl’s death should face a transparent and proper investigation.

In a lengthy statement in June, Punjab police said the officer had been arrested and charged with murder, describing their actions as a “grave deviation” from the force’s conduct.

The Ahmad family was travelling for an Islamic pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia and were visiting Pakistan to celebrate with relatives.