Sabika promised we would be together on Eid: brother

KARACHI: The world of 17-year-old Sabika Sheikh’s family came crashing down when they heard about her death Saturday night.

“It's like doomsday for everyone in the family ever since we have heard about firing at Santa Fe High School,” Sabika’s father, 48-year-old Aziz Sheikh said, unable to control his tears over his daughter’s death in the Texas high school shooting.

“As soon as I got to know about the firing incident, I rushed to get my mobile phone to call Sabika, but she did not answer.”

The 17-year-old girl, who was in Texas under a programme called Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study, was set to return home in three weeks for Eid-ul-Fitr.

Sabika’s younger brother, Ali Aziz, said he spoke to her two days before the incident. “She asked me to decorate her room and promised we would spend Eid together, but all of a sudden everything changed.”

While talking about his sister, Ali said she was a kind and intelligent person. “I would go to her with my study-related problems,” Aziz said. “But now, I will have no one to share my problems with."

About Sabika’s achievements, her uncle Abdul Basit said she was among 6,000 students who received the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study fellowship. “This shows how intelligent she was.”

Who was Sabika Sheikh?

'She was young, vibrant, happy and super-excited to go back to her country', one of Sabika's friends said

He added they are likely to receive Sabika’s body by Monday evening or Tuesday morning as per information from Pakistani diplomats. However, politicians from different parties have asked the government to get Sabika’s body home for final rites at the earliest.

The family received the shocking news of Sabika's death when Aisha Farooqui, the consul-general in Houston, confirmed that the student was among 10 killed in the school shooting.