Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States, Masood Khan, has strongly condemned the murder of Dr. Talat Jehan Khan, a Pakistani-American paediatrician, in a Texas town on Saturday, hoping that a swift inquiry into the case would deliver justice for the victim.
In a statement issued on Monday, the Pakistani envoy said her killing in Conroe, Houston, was “shocking” and a “senseless act of violence.”
Dr. Talat Jehan Khan, 52, a 1966 graduate of the Sindh Medical College, Karachi, was sitting on a picnic table near her home when she was stabbed multiple times to death, according to police.
Authorities charged Miles Joseph Fridrich, a 24-year-old man, in her murder. Although his motive remains unclear, community members and organizations see it as a hate crime.
“We have not found any evidence to link this to a hate crime,” Conroe Police Department Sergeant David Dickenson told CNN. He said the investigation is ongoing.
However, a Muslim advocacy group and an anti-hate organization are calling for police to watch the case closely.
“We are unsure at this moment if this was a hate crime; however, given the tragic circumstances, we are paying very close attention to the investigation,” the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Houston office said in a statement.
In his statement, Ambassador Masood Khan ex-pressed his deepest condolences to the bereaved family, saying, “Dr. Talat Jehan Khan was a dedi-cated healthcare professional and a beloved member of the Pakistani-American community.”
He also spoke to Dr. Arshad Rehan, President of the Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America (APPNA) to express his sorrow over her death.
In his personal messages to the grieving family, the ambassador assured all possible support of the Embassy of Pakistan in Washington and the Consulate in Houston in completing the last rites of the deceased.
The Consul General of Pakistan in Houston will attend the funeral tomorrow, a Pakistani embassy press release said.—APP
