Surprise surprise: Samia Shahid’s ex-husband, father and cousin have failed to show up for a court appearance.

Days after forensic tests by Pakistani police indicated that 28-year-old Samia Shahid was strangled, a lawyer for the three suspects told the court in Jhelum, in Pakistan’s Punjab province, that they were being illegally detained by police.

However, the senior officer in charge of the police station where the murder case has been registered said the trio are on the run.

Oh I’m sure they just forgot to wind the alarm clock.

Malik Ageel, station house officer (SHO) of the Mangla police station in question, denied any knowledge of the whereabouts of the accused. “We questioned them when they came in but then let them go. They are on the run but we will find them,” he claimed.

The court had been due to hear arguments from both sides on Saturday and was to decide on whether to extend Shakeel’s pre-arrest bail. After the suspects failed to appear, the judge extended Shakeel’s bail until the 13 August and told the SHO to produce him and the rest of the accused to the courts by that date.

The judge also recommended that the lawyer of the accused file a formal complaint of kidnapping against the SHO, so action would be taken against him if he failed to produce the defendant in court by 13 August.

Of course if the accused are in fact on the run, it won’t do much good to take action against the station house officer, who doesn’t know where they are.