Chilling CCTV images show a pregnant mum-to-be being led through Edinburgh to Arthur's Seat just moments before she was pushed to her death.
The images show Fawziyah Javed, 31, following her abusive husband, Kashif Anwar, 29, shortly before he shoved her from the hill on September 2, 2021. The couple had travelled to the capital for what Anwar described as a ‘mini-moon’.
He claimed 17-week pregnant Fawziyah slipped and fell in an accident on the hillside, but prosecutors and the jury were able to expose her husband's lies at a trial heard before the High Court in Edinburgh. Witnesses who rushed to her aid after she fell from the cliff-face told the court that Fawziyah used her dying words to reveal it was her abusive husband who caused her to fall 50ft down the hillside.
Daniyah Rafique, 24, managed to reach the dying employment lawyer on the side of the landmark in the Scottish capital, where she was told: “Don’t let my husband near me, he pushed me.” Prosecutors were also able to show how Anwar had been abusing his wife for months prior to the trip through brave reports logged with West Yorkshire Police in interviews with Fawziyah.
Through officers' body-worn cameras which were played to the jury, the mum-to-be gave a harrowing account on how Anwar held a pillow over her face and punched it repeatedly. In another incident, she was left bleeding and unconscious after struggling with him.
The testimonies were provided to police on two separate occasions in 2021 - the last being just six days before her death. Anwar was today found guilty of the murder of his wife and was sentenced to 20 years behind bars.
Scotland’s Procurator Fiscal for Homicide and Major Crime, David Green, said Fawziyah’s bravery in reporting the abuse helped convict her husband of her murder.
He said: "This young woman was being degraded and controlled by her husband, but she found the strength to place on record what was going on. Her own words – which were recorded by West Yorkshire Police – helped us prosecutors show that the tragedy on Arthur’s Seat was the terrible culmination of a campaign of abuse.”
Fawziyah was so afraid of her husband's reaction to her reporting his behaviour that she asked police not to pursue an investigation, but to hold the details on file in case she needed them in future. Recordings of telephone conversations with her husband were also used as evidence during the trial, in which he threatened and abused both her and her family.
And just one week before she died, passing drivers saw Anwar accost his wife on a street near their Yorkshire home. Motorists were so concerned they stopped to help Fawziyah, one providing her with their details and offering support.
Mr Green continued: “Kashif Anwar ended the lives of his wife and his unborn child. We were able to expose his lies on how Fawziyah fell to her death, partly through the evidence provided by Fawziyah herself.
“We are grateful to our partners in police forces north and south of the border, for assisting us in the pursuit of justice. We urge anyone who may be experiencing domestic abuse to come forward, report it and seek help. You will be taken seriously.
“Our thoughts are now with the family of Fawziyah Javed as they try to come to terms with their dreadful loss.”
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