A man accused of murdering his pregnant wife was being “abusive, controlling, manipulative, aggressive and violent towards” his spouse before her death, a court has heard.
The mother of lawyer Fawziyah Javed said that after her only child married Kashif Anwar and a previous incident occurred she was very worried.
Yasmin Javed, 56, said: “I said if you feel you are in danger just text me ‘I feel like cream cakes’ and I will contact the police.”
Advocate depute Alex Prentice KC asked her why she had taken this measure and she replied: “Because of the abuse, violence, coercive control that was going on.”
The mother said that her daughter, who confided in her, had told her she was contemplating leaving within a few months of the couple marrying. The mother said: “We were very, very close. She was an only child.”
Anwar, 29, is accused of assaulting and murdering Fawziyah, 31, at Arthur’s Seat, in Edinburgh’s Holyrood Park, on September 2 in 2021.
It is alleged that he pushed her from height and caused her to fall resulting in her sustaining multiple blunt force trauma injuries and being so severely injured that she died there. It is also said that, as a consequence, he caused the death of her unborn child.
Anwar is also accused of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner on September 1 in 2021 at the Residence Inn by Marriot at Quartermile, in Edinburgh by repeatedly shouting at his wife. He has denied both charges.
His former mother-in-law, from Leeds, in Yorkshire, told the High Court in Edinburgh that her daughter was an employment law solicitor who was a “very outgoing, sociable girl”.
She said her daughter earned a good salary as a lawyer and was “very financially secure”. Her daughter met Anwar after she accompanied her mother to buy new glasses at an optician.
Both her daughter, who was living at home with her, and Anwar had worked in the city centre and bumped into each other and a relationship developed.
Anwar and his parents came round to their family home to express his desire to marry her in November 2019.
The mother said Anwar said he would protect and provide for her and they would have a good life together.
Ms Javed said her daughter was looking forward to married life but had concerns that he seemed a bit possessive and a bit hot tempered.
She said on one occasion they were on their way to get rings and she, her daugher and Anwar’s mother had seatbelts on but when Anwar was told to put his on he became “really, really angry”.
She said he was shouting, swearing, screaming and refusing to put the seat belt on. The mother said: “It was like an extreme overreaction at being told to put the seat belt on.” She said Anwar was later very apologetic and said he was stressed with exams.
Mr Prentice asked the mother if her daughter seemed to want to remain in the marriage and she replied: “Yes and no.”
The prosecutor asked what her concerns were and she said: “Obviously the accused was being abusive, controlling, manipulative. aggressive and violent towards her.”
The mother said that her daughter had said that Anwar got into her online bank account when she was sleeping and withdrew £12,000 and put it into his account and told her he had stolen the money.
She said: “Fawziyah said she was going to leave him because of his behaviour and it was a way of controlling her.”
The court heard that she had contacted a law firm seeking advice over a potential divorce.
James Duncan, 25, told the court that on the evening of September 2 in 2021 he had gone for a walk with his girlfriend at the city landmark of Arthur’s Seat. He said he had been to the summit of the extinct volcano many times.
He said that he had heard a female scream and then heard a male scream. He said the male was screaming “like in shock, but I was not able to catch words”.
He had then seen a woman and a man, whom he identified as Anwar, approaching and was asked for help. The man said his wife had fallen and wanted him to contact emergency services and he made a 999 call. Mr Duncan agreed the man seemed “very panicked”.
He said the ground was slippy but the woman managed to find the woman who had fallen.
He added: “The woman did find her and she said she is still breathing.”
Mrs Javed told the court that her daughter was “going to end the marriage” after her trip to Scotland with her husband, which she was “just a break”.
She said that on her return on September 4 it would have been her daughter’s birthday and was going to go out with her parents and “not go back”.
The mother said her daughter was “a strong, independent woman” who was very principled and said she needed to get the money back that was taken from her.
The police had been contacted about the money but she was told it was a civil matter. The court heard that she did get the money back in June 2021.
Mrs Javed said that her daughter had also phoned a domestic abuse helpline and spoke to them.
The court heard in a recording of a call between Anwar and his wife that she called him “a disrespectful person” and said he was “horrible”. She asked: “Which husband treats his wife the way you do.”
Elizabeth Petty, 41, a midwife at Leeds General Infirmary said she spoke to Fawziyah in hospital in August 2021 after another patient approached her with concerns about a conversation she had overheard during a visit to the now deceased woman by a male.
She said she wrote down the comments and was referred to a police statement where it was noted as: “If you died during childbirth that would be okay. I would be free.”
She said Fawiziyah had given her details identifying Anwar as the person who said it. The midwife said the expectant mother was “very upset” and appeared scared.
The trial continues.
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