Kulsoom Nawaz, the wife of jailed former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif, died of cancer Tuesday in a London hospital. She was 68. Nawaz had been diagnosed with lymphoma last year, about a month after Pakistan's Supreme Court removed her husband from office after he was ordered to go to trial in an anti-corruption court.
Sharif was in London with his ailing wife back in July when he and their daughter, Maryam Nawaz, were convicted and sentenced to 10 and seven years in prison respectively for corruption.
Father and daughter returned to Pakistan days after their convictions, leaving Kulsoom Nawaz in London. Sharif and Maryam Nawaz were taken into custody on their return home and swiftly jailed.
Kulsoom Nawaz was elected to the national parliament last year, but the three-time first lady was not sworn in because she had to be flown out of Pakistan for urgent cancer treatment. She was elected after standing in for Sharif, who had been removed from office for concealing foreign assets. Authorities say Sharif failed to disclose a salary that he was receiving from a foreign-based company owned by one of his sons.
Kulsoom Nawaz married Sharif in 1971. He was first elected prime minister in the 1990s and made history when he returned to power for a third time after his party won the 2013 general elections.
Prime Minister Imran Khan issued a statement offering condolences. His office said Khan has directed the Pakistani High Commission in London to provide all possible assistance to the family.
