(Image source from: USA Today)

Texas:
Immense crowd of hundreds attended the funeral of a Pakistani exchange student, Sabika Sheik killed in mass shooting at Texas high school on May 18.

The funeral took place at an Islamic center in Stafford, Texas on Sunday near to Santa Fe High School, where the massacre took place. As her family was not present at Texas at that time to perform her rites, the Islamic Society for Greater Houston planned the funeral by keeping it open to the public.

M.J. Khan, President of the society said, “She doesn't have any family here, but she has all of us and this whole community that is mourning. We are all there to be her family.”

She was perusing in United States under State Department’s Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program, that provides scholarships for high school students to spend one academic year in United States from countries with significant Muslim populations.

Sabika’s funeral was the first one to take place among those killed in the school shooting.

She had been staying with a host family in Santa Fe Area.

The girl’s father during the interaction with a media source at their hometown of Karachi, said, “we are still in a state of denial. It is like a nightmare. Sabika had dreamed of working for Pakistan's Foreign Ministry. she was expected to return to Karachi next month for Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

The Islamic society called the shooting that happened in Texas school, an act of terror and said such events remind us as to what world we live in, where sanctity of life is not valued.

"Even through her death, she will continue to be a diplomat. Even in her death, she is pulling the relationships between Pakistan and the United States, specifically the Houston area, even closer, " said Huston Mayor Sylvester Turner.

Read: 10 Killed and 10 Hurt in Texas School Shooting

By Sowmya Sangam