From a Harvard Dream to Tragedy: How a Scam Cost a Pakistani Physics Graduate Her Life

Islamabad, Pakistan – The sign outside Rana Malik's dairy shop in Islamabad's G-10 district still lists the familiar staples: milk, fresh yogurt, lassi and ghee. Rana Muhammad Ijaz has lived with his family in the apartment above that shop for more than three decades.

Sitting in front of the shop in late October, he recalled how his youngest daughter, Laiba, made him tea every morning — and then again in the evening before bed. She would also massage his shoulders before he went to rest. "Now she is gone, and I miss all of that," he said.

Laiba Ijaz, 24, a gold medalist in physics at the publicly funded International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI), was found dead near her home on October 9. According to an initial finding in the police case file, she most likely took her own life after she and her family were defrauded of millions of rupees — tens of thousands of dollars — by a man who promised to get her into Harvard University in the United States.

The man accused of the fraud, Muhammad Noman, was arrested two days later. But Noman died on October 20 after being shot while in police custody. Police said his accomplices opened fire in an attempt to free him.

The Harvard dream and empty promises

Ijaz only finished the eighth grade and his wife the tenth, but all four of their daughters went to university. Two studied mathematics, and one spent a year in China on a scholarship studying Mandarin. Laiba also studied on a scholarship and won the university's gold medal.

"The day she got the medal, she jumped up and down in front of her sisters," he recalled. Laiba later taught science at a school in Islamabad and tutored children from grades 2 to 6 on the side. IIUI had offered her a scholarship to Saudi Arabia, but she wanted to study at a higher level in the US. She asked her father to fund study abroad, arguing that she had done everything herself and was also tutoring. He agreed, and the family began making preparations.

It was during this period that they met Noman. Laiba had met him at a call center in the Blue Area, the capital's main business district, where she had once worked late hours. Ijaz was uncomfortable with that working environment and advised his daughter to quit; she did.

Noman then began coming to the shop to buy milk and yogurt, asking about Laiba's plans to study in Saudi Arabia. When Ijaz said the family would go to the US rather than Saudi Arabia, Noman introduced himself as working at the Supreme Court, produced an official card and said that as a government employee he did not need a license to practice. "The card looked genuine to me. I even showed it to people around me," he said.

Noman offered to help Laiba with her application. Ijaz and his daughter decided to accept. "That was our biggest mistake," the father said.

According to Ijaz, the family paid in installments, starting with 2.2 million rupees (about $7,900) for tuition. Noman then said Harvard required proof of funds of 7.2 million rupees (about $25,900), and insisted the money had to pass through his account to be converted into dollars. To help his daughter, Ijaz sold a plot of land and the family's jewelry.

The documents shared with the press appeared to show a genuine file: a Harvard admission letter and scholarship letter, a US immigration form bearing what looked like official stamps, an affidavit of financial support from a relative in New York, embassy paperwork with Laiba's photograph, and a business-class ticket to Boston. The final bundle, handed over in late September, also included bank statements in Laiba's name and an appointment for a visa interview on October 12.

In early October, Ijaz called Noman to ask him to prepare his daughter for the interview. Noman said he was in Quetta and would return the next day. Suspicious of the evasiveness, the family showed the papers to a travel agent and discovered that the ticket to Boston was fake. A neighbor who is a lawyer reviewed the file and said none of the documents were genuine. The family learned the truth around October 6.

Ijaz told his daughter that what had to happen had happened, but Laiba still held out hope that US authorities and Harvard might still process a genuine application for her.

The last morning

On October 9, as Ijaz was preparing to close the shop for Friday prayers, Laiba told her father that Noman had messaged her, saying he would pray at a nearby mosque and then come to see the family. He advised his daughter not to pay it any mind because the man would not show up. It was one of the last things he said to her.

He told Laiba to stay in the house and asked his wife to keep an eye on her. When he returned, his wife said Laiba had received a message from Noman and left despite her mother's objections. "Hearing that, I could not stand steady," he said.

He sent his son-in-law, Zaid bin Afzal, and one of his sons to look for her. One of Laiba's sisters used an app to trace her phone to an area near the house. They found her body at around 3:30 pm, less than two hours after she had left home. Zaid called the police emergency number, then called his father-in-law, saying only that Laiba "is being stubborn and won't come home." But Ijaz immediately sensed something was wrong. When he arrived, he found his daughter dead.

Study abroad and the regulatory gap

Laiba was part of a growing number of Pakistanis seeking to study in the US. In the 2024-2025 academic year, more than 13,000 Pakistani students were enrolled at US institutions, up 75 percent from 2017-2018, according to the Open Doors report by the Institute of International Education.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) said Noman was not a registered visa agent. The Pakistani government has also left a large gap in the study-abroad market by not regulating education consultancies, according to the Association of Pakistani Study Abroad and Immigration Consultants. "I don't know of any regulatory body that inspects or registers education consultants," said Nushmiya Sukhera, co-founder of CollegeWorks, an admissions consultancy in Lahore. She also stressed that no education consultancy can guarantee admission.

Unanswered questions

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered Noman's arrest a day after Laiba's death. Police and the FIA opened two separate cases. On October 20, police said four men on two motorcycles opened fire as Noman was being taken to collect evidence; the group intended to help Noman escape but shot him instead, and he died while being treated. Authorities are investigating the attack but have made no arrests.

A senior police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the investigation into Laiba's death is continuing. Initial autopsy results indicated she died by suicide; footage showed Laiba leaving home on her own with her phone in hand. The remaining forensic report usually takes 15 to 20 days.

But Ijaz and his family do not accept the finding that Laiba took her own life. Zaid said after finding Laiba that "she could not have done that to herself." Ijaz was more blunt: "She did not die on her own. He killed her."