Inside Fawziyah Javed's horror life with killer husband - and her trail of clues
It was one final push that took Fawziyah Javed's life - but her violent husband had been abusing her long before.
Last April, Kashif Anwar was jailed for 20 years for the murder of his wife Fawziyah, after he pushed her off the edge of a cliff in September 2021. The couple were on a 'mini-moon' in Edinburgh when Anwar, 29, led Fawziyah, 31, to the top of Arthur's Seat and forced her off the edge. She died 17 weeks pregnant with their unborn child.
Tonight, the second part of Channel 4's documentary The Push: Murder on the Cliff airs and follows the harrowing murder case in court. The footage reveals all the evidence police and prosecutors had stacked against Anwar to prove that - despite his claims - his wife did not accidentally slip and fall on the hillside while taking a selfie.
The lawyer had secret plans to leave her husband shortly before she was murdered, her mum claimed (Yasmin Javed / SWNS)
Fawziyah went to West Yorkshire Police twice to record her husband's violent behaviour (Fawziyah Javed)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.
She secretly recorded phone calls of Anwar threatening her and went to West Yorkshire Police twice to record his abusive behaviour - the last being just six days before her death. One account told how Anwar held a pillow over her face and punched it repeatedly. In another incident, she was left bleeding and unconscious.
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Fawziyah was so afraid of her husband's reaction to her reporting of his behaviour that she asked the police not to pursue an investigation, but to hold the details on file in case she needed them in the future. Scotland's Procurator Fiscal for Homicide and Major Crime, David Green, said Fawziyah's bravery in reporting the abuse helped convict her husband.
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."
A friend of Fawziyah, known only as Ingrid, said: "She built this massive mountain of evidence culminating with giving a statement to the police on the verge of her dying. The fact she was a lawyer with all the legal training, I do think she must have thought about leaving this evidence behind. I remember feeling like she died like a lawyer."
Kashif Anwar was found guilty of murdering his wife and convicted to 20 years (Daily Record)
CCTV showed Fawziyah following Anwar up to Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh (PA)One week before Fawziyah died, passing drivers saw Anwar accost his wife on a street near their Yorkshire home, and were so concerned they stopped to help. Witness Nicola Lilly, 44, told the court that she had seen Anwar blocking his wife's path. She said: "I just knew something wasn't right. She was just trying to get away from him and [he] was being, sort of, aggressive towards her."
Ms Lilly told the trial that she saw Fawziyah being "pulled about" and she offered her telephone number. She said Fawziyah appeared "very upset and frightened" and identified the man to Ms Lilly as her husband. She said: "[Fawziyah] got really scared, then she said, 'Please tell them what he's just been like with me, they won't believe me'."
Another witness overheard Anwar telling his wife in hospital that he "would be free" if she died in childbirth, the court was told. Midwife Elizabeth Petty, 41 said a patient told her Anwar said to Fawziyah: "If you died during childbirth that would be okay. I would be free." Fawziyah confirmed to Ms Petty that this was correct and appeared "scared" and "upset", she said.
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.
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."
Fawziyah's final words to a passerby were: 'Don't let my husband near me, he pushed me.' (PA)The couple had travelled to the Scottish capital for what Anwar described as a 'mini-moon'. Chilling CCTV showed Anwar leading Fawziyah up to the hill and then they took selfies at the top shortly after 8pm. Calls were made from Fawziyah's phone to her father and Anwar's father around 9.20pm, shortly before Fawziyah was pushed off the edge.
Anwar spoke to a 999 operator 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." A firefighter sent to help rescue Fawziyah claims Anwar told him that his wife slipped as he bumped into her trying to get a selfie.
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After Fawziyah landed on the side of Arthur's Seat, witnesses rushed to her aid and she was able to tell them what had happened to her. While she lay critically injured, the lawyer told passerby Daniyah Rafique, 24: "Don't let my husband near me, he pushed me." She died a short time later.
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.
- Episode two of The Push: Murder on the Cliff airs at 9pm tonight on Channel 4.
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