LONDON: Pakistani film star Meera’s younger sister, Shaista Abbas, a qualified lawyer based in London, has died after a prolonged battle with cancer, leaving the actress devastated after she failed to secure a British visa to visit her despite repeated appeals to UK authorities on humanitarian grounds.
Speaking to Geo News from New York, Meera confirmed that Shaista had died in a London hospital after battling cancer for several years. She expressed deep regret that the British High Commission had not granted her a visa despite repeated requests, including appeals on humanitarian grounds as her sister’s condition worsened.Another of Meera and Shaista’s sisters, Aksa Abbas, who lives in Europe, also told Geo News that Shaista had remained in hospital for the past two months. Before that, she had been repeatedly admitted and discharged over almost a year as her health deteriorated.
During her illness, Shaista was supported by Aksa, their mother, Shafqat Zahra Bukhari and their brother, who had travelled from Pakistan to be with her. Meera, however, could not join them in London despite repeated attempts to get permission to visit her seriously ill sister.
