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Asian community up in arms over Pakistani woman's death

Sukhjit Purewal in San Jose

Pakistani leaders of Houston don't want Shamim Siddiqi's death to have been in vain.

Siddiqi, 52, apparently had a heart attack and died while under arrest for shoplifting at an Albertson's grocery store in northwest Houston on August 21.

Siddiqi had just finished her shopping and had paid for her items when she stopped to find out why a friend, Anwary Shaikh, 44, and her daughter Kiran, 22, were being questioned by an Albertson's security officer and an off-duty sheriff's deputy.

The deputy arrested Siddiqi along with the Shaikhs because Albertson's employees said she had also shoplifted.

When Siddiqi told the deputy and Albertson's employees that she wasn't feeling well and asked for some water, she was mocked by store employees, even when she was rolling on the floor, Anwary Shaikh told The Houston Chronicle.

Shaikh told the paper that the employees accused Siddiqi of "faking her distress".

By the time emergency personnel did arrive, it was too late. Siddiqi was dead.

It turned that although the Shaikhs had $150 in stolen cosmetics in their possession, Siddiqi, a devout Muslim, had nothing on her.

"This inhuman treatment should not be given to anyone," Masrur Javed Khan, president of the Pakistan Association of Greater Houston, told rediff.com

"We want Albertson's to accept full responsibility for causing the death of Shamim Siddiqi, issue a public apology to the family and take necessary steps so that such incidents never happen again."

Albertson's issued a press release a day after the incident.

Without naming Siddiqi, Kim Gray, vice-president of Albertson's Houston division, expressed "sincere condolences to the friends and family". Gray also defended the action of the store employees.

"Our associates acted properly and responsively, and contacted both medical services and the Houston police for assistance," the statement read.

Khan's group sprang into action following Siddiqi's death, calling for justice.

PAGH joined several other groups -- the Islamic Society of Houston, Counsel of American Islamic Relations, Islamic Circle of Northern America, and the Al-Noor Society -- to urge the Harris County district attorney's office to press criminal charges against those who may have delayed getting Siddiqi medical attention.

Khan also indicated that Siddiqi's family is considering civil litigation against Albertson's and the appropriate individuals involved in the tragedy.

Houston Mayor Lee Brown attended a prayer service for Siddiqi on September 2 and promised an estimated 100 people who attended that he would make sure the matter was given full attention.

"It is my duty to help determine what happened to Mrs Siddiqi and take appropriate action that this type of action never repeats itself," Brown was quoted as saying in The Houston Chronicle.

The mayor also privately met the Siddiqi family a week earlier to express his condolences.

Khan said supporters could only wait and see if Brown's words ring true. "The immigrant generation can be timid people," said Khan. "Our timidness is taken by others as a sign that they can abuse us and particularly our females."

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