Lawyer Fizza Malik, 25, who was also killed, was planning her LLM in the UK.

Having passed her LLB from Islamabad School of Law last year under the external LLB programme of the University of London, she had been practicing for a very short while.

She was working as an associate lawyer with the incumbent president of Islamabad High Court (IHC) Bar Association Mohsin Akhtar Kayani for the last two months.

She had applied for a licence from the Punjab Bar Council (PBC) and was waiting for her interview with the PBC.

Advocate Kayani told Dawn that before going to attend the courtroom of civil judge Sohaib Bilal, Ms Malik had been talking to him, convincing him to arrange her interview with the PBC – a mandatory requirement for acquiring a licence for legal practice.

She planned to leave for the UK after getting her licence.— A Reporter