Fawziyah Javed had brave escape plan, but callous husband killed her first
A pregnant woman who was murdered by her abusive husband had plotted an escape plan to get away from him.
Lawyer Fawziyah Javed, 31, had been on the cusp of leaving Kashif Anwar, 29, when he forced her off the cliff face at 17 weeks pregnant and killed her and their unborn child. The couple were on holiday in Edinburgh in September 2021 when Anwar led his wife up to Arthur's Seat and pushed her off the edge.
Tonight, the second part of Channel 4's docuseries, titled The Push: Murder on the Cliff, follows the harrowing murder case in court and the evidence Fawziyah had stacked against her husband before he killed her. Anwar claimed his wife slipped and fell while taking a selfie, but was later handed 20 years behind bars.
Kashif Anwar was found guilty of murdering his wife and sentenced to 20 years in prison (Daily Record)
Chilling CCTV footage showed him leading her up to Arthur's Seat where he pushed her off (PA)Fawziyah was subject to horrific abuse at the hands of her husband and her harrowing accounts detailed him punching her, pushing her, knocking her unconscious in a graveyard, and taking money from her account. The brave lawyer had spent months building a case against Anwar and confided in police officers and her mum about his violent behaviour.
During the trial last April, Fawziyah's mum, Nighat Yasmin Javed, told the court she was "very worried" about her daughter. She said: "I said if you feel that you are in danger, just text me 'I feel like cream cakes', and I will contact the police." Mrs Javed said she did this because of the "abuse, the violence, the aggression, and coercive control" in the relationship.
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She said Anwar took £12,000 from her daughter's bank account while she was sleeping and monitored her daughter's calls and texts. She said between three and four months after the wedding, Fawziyah wanted out of the marriage. Mrs Javed told the jury: "She didn't want to stay in a marriage like that, she wanted to leave."
Mrs Javed said her daughter had planned to leave Anwar after the four-night break in Edinburgh and did not intend on returning to her husband's home. She had made plans to go to her parents' house and was going to 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."
Fawziyah had made plans to go to her parents' house after their Edinburgh holiday (Daily Record)
Her mother said 'everything was in place and all the evidence was there' before she died (Daily Record)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."
After Anwar pushed Fawziyah off the cliff, he rang 999 and said: "Fawziyah's just on the edge of the cliff, man. We both just slipped, I tried grabbing her arm and she fell. We both technically slipped and then I tried grabbing her arm and she went sideways." But while his wife lay critically injured, she managed to confide in a passerby.
She told Daniyah Rafique, 24: "Don't let my husband near me, he pushed me", before dying a short time later. This witness account, along with Fawziyah's previous evidence - including records of threatening phone calls and reports of abuse to West Yorkshire Police - helped to seal Anwar's fate.
Of the lawyer's final words, Mr Prentice said: "The evidence of what Fawziyah said was crucial. It was effectively Fawziyah speaking to the jury. I have prosecuted many murder cases over the course of my career but for a variety of reasons this case is extraordinary." He said it would have been "very difficult" to find Anwar guilty without the evidence.
Mrs Javed 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."
- Episode two of The Push: Murder on the Cliff airs at 9pm tonight on Channel 4.
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