AN ONLINE appeal has been set up to put pressure on Pakistani authorities to investigate the murder of a Nelson family of three.

Mohammad Yousaf, 51, his wife Parviaz, 49, and daughter Tania, 23, were shot dead at a cemetery near Gujrat on May 20.

Relatives have now set up a Facebook group called ‘Justice For The Yousaf family’ with the aim of keeping the case in the public eye.

They are urging the Pakistani Government to catch and prosecute brothers Shiraz and Naveed Arif, who are accused of killing the three people.

The accused were given protective bail days after the incident but failed to attend court and went on the run.

A month ago Gujrat police chief Tariq Abbas Qureshi said he was in negotiations with the brothers, who were thought to be in the Southern port of Karachi.

He said it would be ‘only a matter of days’ before they were caught.

But there has been no news of developments in the case in recent weeks, prompting the Yousaf family to issue a statement through the internet group.

The statement said: “As you are aware we are all trying to put pressure on the Pakistan authorities to have this case investigated fairly and properly according to the law and are currently working on this with a number of people.

“The main two accused have absconded as you are aware and we need to ensure that the UK Government are taking all the right steps and applying pressure where possible to have the accused arrested and prosecuted fairly in a court of law in Pakistan.”

The Yousaf family were praying in a cemetery when they were shot a number of times by a four-strong gang. Pakistan police said the attacks were believed to have been carried out by family unhappy over a failed arranged marriage involving the son of the couple.

The brothers on the run are understood to be Mrs Yousaf's nephews.

Speaking through the Facebook group, the family said: “As you can imagine this has torn our family apart and has left a big void in our lives but with your support we can stay strong and get through this.

“Finally all we as a family are asking for is justice to be served fairly to allow us to try and move on with re-building our lives as we are unable to do this unless we have some closure on this case.

"We appreciate all the love and support you have shown us.”