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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Kieren Williams

Pregnant woman pushed to her death off Arthur's Seat by husband was 'two days away from leaving him'

A pregnant woman, who was pushed to her death off Arthur’s Seat by her husband was just two days from leaving him, her heartbroken mother has revealed.

Lawyer Fawziyah Javed, 31, had been on the cusp of leaving her violent husband, Kashif Anwar, 29.

She had even plotted an escape plan to get away from Anwar but was killed during a holiday in September 2021, before she could make it out.

The couple had checked into a hotel in Edinburgh on August 31 and were to return to Yorkshire on September 4, which would have been her 32nd birthday.

Anwar, from Pudsey, Leeds, tried to claim he had slipped and bumped into his wife on September 2, but a jury rejected his defence and found him guilty of murdering Ms Javed, who was 17 weeks pregnant.

He was sentenced to life in prison - serving a minimum of 20 years.

Kashif Anwar was found guilty of murdering his wife (Daily Record)
Chilling CCTV footage showed the abusive husband leading Ms Javed to Arthur's Seat, to her death (PA)

Ms Javed’s mother, Yasmin Javed, 56, said her daughter had told her she had planned to leave Anwar after the four night break in Edinburgh.

The trial heard that following the holiday, she planned not to return to Anwar’s home but to go to her parents’ house and contact police to retrieve her belongings.

The heartbroken mum said: "She was two days away from leaving this imbecile. Two days. Everything was in place and all the evidence was there. She’d done everything she could. It’s so frustrating and painful.

"She was my only child and she was perfect in every way. Nobody deserves this but least of all somebody who had given so much to society and would have continued to do so."

The famous beauty spot Arthur's Seat, in Edinburgh (PA)

Speaking to The Daily Record, she added: "The common misunderstanding is that women who are abused have got nowhere to go and have no support. Fawziyah was the opposite.

"She was financially very comfortable. She had the support of her family. She was bright and articulate and had everything in place to leave.

"She had a plan but he didn’t allow her to carry it out in time."

Yasmin said her son-in-law was "abusive, controlling, manipulative, aggressive and violent" and things had gotten so bad she told her daughter to use a secret text code whenever she was in danger.

The lawyer had reported details of her husband's abuse and even recorded conversations between the pair (Daily Record)
Ms Javed's mother said she was just two days from leaving (Daily Record)

She had begged her daughter to text her "I like cream cakes" whenever she felt like she was in danger.

Just before the sightseeing trip that would see Ms Javed plunge 50ft to her death, she had told West Yorkshire Police that Anwar had knocked her unconscious in a graveyard.

In another sickening incident of abuse, he put a pillow over her head and punched her repeatedly.

During the trial, the jury was told how Anwar had been overheard in a hospital in Leeds telling his wife that if she died in childbirth that "would be okay" because he would "be free".

As she lay dying, she was able to tell a police officer that her husband had pushed her.

When speaking to police, Anwar said: "We were below the summit. I lost my balance and fell into her. I heard her go over the edge and say 'oh my foot' and she started screaming. I heard a thud."

But the trial heard a catalogue of evidence, much from Ms Javed herself, which sealed his fate.

Unknown to Anwar, Ms Javed had reported details of his abuse to West Yorkshire Police for them to keep on file and recorded conversations between the pair.

Procurator fiscal for homicide and major crime David Green said her bravery had helped prosecutors show that the tragedy on Arthur’s Seat was "the terrible culmination of a campaign of abuse" at the hands of her husband.

He said her strength allowed prosecutors to “expose his lies” on how she met her death.

Yasmin said her daughter’s bravery and her desire to help others would now be her "legacy" as they intend to set up a charity.

She said: "People may say he was a few steps ahead of her in terms of carrying out this horrific heinous crime. But she was the one who got him convicted."

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