Investigators say the Laiba Ijaz case has moved to a confession. Noman, the man in custody, has confessed to deceiving Laiba, a gold medallist of the International Islamic University Islamabad, according to people familiar with the inquiry. She had been offered a US study visa, a scholarship and a university place, and the sum taken was Rs9.3 million. Sources say she died by suicide after the strain of learning that the offer was empty, by which time her family had sold land and pledged jewellery.
How a failed shop led to a visa request
The inquiry places the first contact in February of the current year. Noman was introduced to Laiba by Aiza Fatima, described by investigators as his friend. The two women had started a small internet shop for everyday snacks, but it failed. Laiba later asked Aiza for help with an American visa, and sources say Noman then called on a separate mobile while presenting himself as Aiza.
The International Islamic University Islamabad is a university in the capital. A student visa is official permission to enter another country for study, and it is not the same thing as a private message that promises a seat. When those two are blurred together, a forged paper can look like a plan that is already complete.
Two identities and software-made papers
Sources say he also created a Gmail address that borrowed the identity of Azhar, Aiza's brother, who lives in America. Laiba was written to from that address and from the line used to imitate Aiza. Investigators say software known as artificial intelligence, which can generate text and pictures, was used to put together visa papers. Only some messages are in hand; the phone is with a forensic lab so remaining data can be read.
What police found in H-13
Police detained Noman in H-13, a sector of Islamabad, over papers that falsely claimed a seat at a US university. Investigators say the same handset also holds material on other online cheating and on women being pressured. The confession and those phone findings are attributed to inquiry sources, not to a court ruling. Anyone following the Laiba Ijaz case will next be watching the lab review of that device, which is meant to check the account Noman has given.
A forensic lab, in this setting, means specialists will try to recover chats, files and account traces from the handset. Sources say that work is how they expect to test the partial message record they already have.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Laiba Ijaz IIUI ki gold medallist thin, aur un se Rs9.3 million ek jhoote US visa, scholarship aur admission ke waade par nikal liye gaye. February mein Noman ka taaruf Aiza Fatima ke zariye hua, phir us ne doosre phone se Aiza ban kar baat ki. Us ne Azhar ke naam se email banayi aur AI se jhoote kaghaz taiyar kiye. Ghar walon ne zameen bechi aur zewar girwi rakha; dhoka samajh aane ke baad Laiba ne apni jaan de di.
