(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) –Kulsoom Nawaz, the wife of Pakistan’s ousted former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, has died in London. She was 68.
The three-time first lady was diagnosed with cancer in August 2017, and suffered a heart attack on 14 June.
Her husband and daughter, Maryam, are both in jail in Pakistan. They returned to face corruption convictions ahead of July’s election, leaving the ailing Ms Nawaz in London.
She was elected as an MP in 2017 after standing in for Nawaz Sharif.
But she was not sworn in as she was already abroad for cancer treatment.
When Nawaz and Maryam Sharif left London for Pakistan in July, they knew they faced lengthy jail terms and would likely not see Ms Nawaz again.
Mr Sharif had said the charges – related to the ownership of luxury London flats – were politically motivated.
Recently elected Prime Minister Imran Khan calls Ms Nawaz “a courageous woman of great dignity”.
Kulsoom Nawaz married Nawaz Sharif in 1971 and her husband was prime minister of Pakistan on three occasions – 1990-1993, 1997-1999 and 2013-2017.
Ms Nawaz was born Kulsoom Rehana Butt in 1950 to a businessman and investor, Mohammad Hafeez Butt, and his wife Razia Begum.
She had two sisters and two brothers.
