Why an International Student’s Highway Prayer Turned Deadly

Samia Malik, a young Pakistani international student, was killed after being struck by a car while appearing to kneel in the middle of a South Australian road. At the time, she was reportedly dealing with financial hardship and the emotional fallout of a recent break-up.

The 20-year-old had been on North East Road in Hillcrest, Adelaide’s north-east, for about four minutes when she was hit at approximately 11pm on May 6 last year.

Ashton Friend, the driver involved, was sentenced in South Australia’s District Court last Friday for causing Samia’s death and fleeing the crash scene. He avoided a prison sentence.

Judge Anne Barnett said CCTV footage appeared to show Samia holding her hands in a position resembling prayer shortly before the fatal collision.

The court heard no confirmed explanation for why Samia was in such a dangerous position on the road. However, a source familiar with the South Australian Pakistani community rejected the suggestion that she had been praying, calling it “ridiculous”.

The Daily Mail understands Samia had been under financial strain and had recently ended a short relationship with a young Pakistani man.

Samia was reportedly working part-time as a security officer when she met the man. Their relationship allegedly faced opposition from his family, adding to the pressure surrounding the couple.

A prominent figure in South Australia’s Pakistani community said Samia’s family had chosen not to discuss publicly what happened in the lead-up to her death.

Her parents travelled to Adelaide for their daughter’s funeral and burial before returning to Pakistan without making public comments.

“They were very tight-lipped about what caused that poor girl to be on the road,” the community source said.

“Everyone wanted to understand why she had been there and what had led to the accident.”

“The safest thing we can say, based on what we heard from several sources, is that she was facing significant financial stress and was also involved with a young man.”

“I was told his parents did not approve of the relationship, which created more pressure. That man is now married to someone else.”

The source also dismissed the claim that Samia had been engaged in Muslim prayer when she was struck by Friend’s vehicle.

“What we understand is that she was changing positions on the road,” he said. “She was sitting on one side and then moving to the other.”

“The suggestion that she was kneeling as part of a prayer gesture was not correct. That explanation was ridiculous.”

“Muslims kneel in that way when they pray in many parts of the world.”

“The idea that she must have been praying simply because she was Muslim is completely absurd.”

‘She was just under stress, just trying to sit down, not to pray.’ 

The source said the main cause of Samia’s troubles appeared to have been a lack of money.

‘First was financial,’ he said. ‘Because she was a student. They have to come up with the fees and look after themselves. The part of the world they come from is not always supportive financially.’

The source said it might never be known exactly why Samia put herself on the roadway in the path of Friend’s vehicle.

‘The best source would be the family, but they didn’t talk to us,’ he said. ‘They didn’t share a single thing. 

‘That’s like the culture of somebody from Pakistan. Something happens to the female of the house, they immediately become secret.’

Another senior figure in South Australia’s Pakistani community said Samia came from a ‘good family’ but they did not wish to engage with their local countrymen. 

‘Maybe they don’t want to disclose but they didn’t give us any of what happened,’ he said. 

‘That’s someone’s personal matter. It’s not good to interfere with someone’s personal matters if they don’t want to disclose.’

‘Nobody has answered what went wrong with her. Overseas students face a lot of challenges. They have to do everything on their own.’

Samia’s older brother Zaheer Malik, who lives in Sydney, launched a GoFundMe appeal to cover his sister’s funeral expenses which quickly raised $30,974. 

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Zaheer said he was writing ‘with a shattered heart’ as he described Samia being ‘killed in a horrific hit-and-run in Adelaide’. 

‘She was walking – just walking – when a driver hit her and drove away, leaving her on the road,’ he said. ‘CPR couldn’t save her. She died alone in a foreign country, far from her family, far from home.

‘She came to Australia with dreams, with courage. She was an international student, studying hard, paying her own way through university. 

‘No work cover. No insurance. Nothing to protect her, no help in death, just like there was no one to help her in her final moments.’

Zaheer said his family wanted to lay Samia to rest ‘in a place where she can be remembered, surrounded by friends and loved ones’ but did not have the means to pay for her funeral arrangements.  

‘Every moment without her feels like the world has stopped,’ he said. ‘Our family is in pieces. There are no words for this kind of grief.’

The Daily Mail tried to contact Zaheer.

Friend pleaded guilty to causing death by careless use of a motor vehicle and leaving the scene of an accident.

The 20-year-old had been driving home from his girlfriend’s house when he struck Samia and was ‘at a loss’ as to what had happened, which was why he failed to stop.

Defence barrister Jane Abbey KC told the court last month her client had not been aware ‘there was something on the road’.

‘He heard this noise,’ she said. ‘What he hoped was that it had been an animal, or something like that.’

Ms Abbey submitted that due to the limited damage sustained by his car, Friend assumed he had not struck a person.

‘He was checking his rear vision, but he did not see her – he should have,’ she said.

‘Initially, he just did not realise he had hit a person.’

The court heard Friend realised what had happened when he saw news reports about Samia’s death which sent him into a ‘state of paralysis’.

He was identified by police a week later and arrested.

‘He just could not reconcile what he had done’, Ms Abbey said.

The court heard Friend was not affected by drugs or alcohol and was not speeding when he killed Samia.

In an apology read to her family, Friend said he could ‘only imagine the indescribable pain’ they were feeling.

‘I will have to carry my failures with me for as long as I live,’ he said.

‘I am deeply sorry for the life that was lost, the grief and the trauma caused to Samia’s family and loved ones.

‘There is no excuse for my actions, or my failure to act – and I should have acted. I do not place responsibility on anyone else; it is mine alone.

‘I take full responsibility for my actions and their consequences. I stand before this court with genuine remorse and a commitment to reflect on, learn from and be accountable for what I have done.’

Judge Barnett served Friend a suspended sentence of one year, three months and 29 days with a non-parole period of eight months, and placed him on a good behaviour bond for two years.

Samia’s sister Qudisya Malik, who lives in Victoria, remembered her late sibling as ‘a remarkable young woman’ in a victim impact statement provided ahead of Friend’s sentencing.

‘Grief has become part of my everyday life and there are moments where the pain feels just as fresh as it did on the day we lost her,’ she said.

‘Every important milestone reminds us that someone deeply loved is missing. There is always an empty place where Samia should have been.

‘Nothing can ever replace Samia. We have lost a daughter, a sister, a friend and a remarkable young woman who had so much life ahead of her. 

‘Samia will always remain part of our family. She may no longer be physically with us but she continues to live on in our hearts.’