The grieving mother of park shooting victim Skander Rehman has revealed how the baby sister he never saw is helping her cope with his death.
Samina Hussain cradled her daughter at Skander's graveside and spoke publicly for the first time about her "special" son.
University student Skander, 20, died from a single gunshot wound to the head two days after an incident in Brackenhill Park, Great Horton, Bradford, on February 26 this year.
His mother gave birth to a baby girl, Falak, six weeks later.
Today, Mrs Hussain, of Girlington, told how Falak, now seven weeks old, has brought comfort to her after the loss of her only son.
Mrs Hussain, a mother-of-three, said: "Nobody can replace my son. He was so special and will always be in our hearts.
"Falak is lovely. Some people say she looks a bit like Skander.
"She does have a look of him. When I hold her I see him when he was a baby. I find that comforting."
The proud mother said Skander always loved children and it had been upsetting when she brought Falak home from hospital and he was not there.
"Skander would have very much loved his little sister and we would all have had a nice, happy life together," she said.
"Bringing her home when he wasn't there was horrible. He would have liked doing everything for her.
"I think of my son when I am holding her, even when she is crying. It makes me think there is a little bit of him still there physically for me."
Mrs Hussain said Skander and his elder sister, 15-year-old Arzoo, had been very close.
"She was devastated by what happened to him. He had dropped her at school as normal that morning and when she got back from school we had to go to the hospital and she saw him on all these life support machines. It was awful for her.
"Arzoo spends time with Falak and that comforts her, which gives me peace. We sit and talk about Skander, which makes us feel good.
"Sometimes Arzoo is quiet but when she holds the baby it is a help to both of us."
Skander, an IT management student at the University of Bradford, lived with his mother and sister at their neat terraced house.
He was fatally injured during the shooting incident at Brackenhill Park and died two days later in Bradford Royal Infirmary when his family agreed to his life support machine being switched off.
Mrs Hussain said she and Arzoo had lost "a very good friend."
She added: "My son was a brilliant boy and a caring, loving person. He was too nice."
Mrs Hussain said the Shearbridge Mosque was so full for Skander's funeral there was not enough room for everybody inside.
She said: "It was a very, very big funeral. The mosque was packed. It was a very sad occasion for me, it was the last time I could see my son.
"Every single person who came to the funeral wanted to see his face.
"He was buried near to my mother at Scholemoor Cemetery. When they put him in the grave he looked like an angel. I visited his grave every day and talked to him. I would ask him why are you gone? Why have you gone before me?' "I have lost a good friend and part of me has gone with him. I will never be happy in this world because I have lost such a precious thing."
Two Bradford men, aged 20 and 19, have been charged with Skander's murder. They are due to face trial in October.
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