Arthur’s Seat killer told wife to stop being like a 'British woman'

The mother of a woman murdered by her husband who pushed her off a hill says he was "evil, jealous and insecure".

Fawziyah Javed died after she was pushed from Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh by Kashif Anwar in 2021.

In her first TV interview, Fawziyah's mother Yasmin Javed told BBC Newsnight she believes Anwar did not like his wife being independent.

In a recording Fawziyah secretly made, her husband told her to stop behaving like a British woman.

Fawziyah's mother said Anwar resented the 31-year-old solicitor being an independent, well-educated young woman.

"He didn't like the fact that Fawzi had her own voice, her own opinions. He didn't like that," she said.

Fawziyah Javed, from Leeds, married Anwar, an optical assistant, in an Islamic ceremony on 25 December 2020.

Three months after their wedding Anwar knocked Fawziyah unconscious in a cemetery, the court case into her death was told.

At around the same time, he put a pillow over her face and punched her in the head.

The court also heard Anwar withdrew £12,000 from her bank account while she was sleeping.

Fawziyah's mother Yasmin said she had encouraged her daughter to leave Anwar but she said Fawziyah was biding her time and said she knew what she was doing.

"She had contacted divorce lawyers to get the ball rolling to get a divorce because he always said, 'I'm never going to divorce you'.

"And she'd also made voice recordings of him where he's being threatening and abusive towards her. So obviously that was all evidence of how he was treating her."

In one voice recording Fawziyah is heard saying: "You've ruined my life."

Anwar replies: "I'll tell you one thing. You end this and I will ruin yours."

In another recording Anwar is heard telling his wife: "Who do you think you are? You're not a man … so come back tomorrow like you've been told."

His wife asks: "What's your problem?"

Anwar replies: "My problem? Don't challenge me, do not be that British woman.

"Because I'm telling you, it will not work. I promise it will not work. It won't work with me."

Fawziyah went to the police twice so that there was a record of Anwar's behaviour, although she didn't want them to intervene at that point.

The second police report was made just days before Anwar killed her, on a weekend away to Edinburgh in September 2021.

The couple were captured on CCTV heading to the Edinburgh landmark Arthur's seat.

After falling 50ft off a cliff edge, Fawziyah was able to tell passers-by what had happened, before she died.

In April this year, Anwar was jailed for a minimum of 20 years for murdering his wife, who was 17 weeks pregnant, and causing the death of her unborn child.

Fawziyah's mother said she cannot forget her daughter's last words: "'Am I going to die? Is my baby going to die?'"

"The words go round around my head every single day," Ms Javed said.

"Alongside the grief and pain, I can't get them words out of my mind."

Ms Javed told Newsnight she did not feel like the family got justice and Anwar is still exerting his control even though he's in prison.

"I still don't have all of Fawziyah's possessions back," she said. "The possessions that I have got back. I've had to fight tooth and nail to get them.

"And his parents are honouring that control, by not giving all her possessions back to us."

The court previously heard a recording of Anwar telling his wife: "Anything that's here that you're probably going to say it belongs to you. You're not taking anything from here.

"It's all going to stay here, that's my possessions because it's my house."

The parents of Kashif Anwar told BBC Newsnight that they had returned all of Fawziyah's possessions to the police and to her family.

Ms Javed believes Anwar's motives for murdering her daughter stemmed from honour-based control, jealousy, and insecurity.

Honour-based abuse is a crime or incident committed to protect or defend the 'honour' of a family or community.

"He used to say to Fawziyah, we don't have divorces in our family, we don't divorce, we stay in marriages no matter what," she told BBC Newsnight.

Police Scotland, who carried out the investigation into Fawziyah's murder, said they did not identify any honour-based abuse, adding that domestic abuse and coercive control were the main factors in the case.

But charity Karma Nirvana, who are supporting Yasmin - including prior to Fawziyah's death - said they recognised honour abuse as part of Fawziayah's experience.

Baroness Shaista Gohir, chair of Muslim Women Network UK (MWNUK), said there can be additional barriers faced by some South Asian women when leaving abusive relationships.

Pointing to how religious divorces can be used as tools of control, she highlighted the need for increased awareness and support for victims in these communities.

Baroness Gohir said as a member and volunteer at MWNUK, Fawziyah was an intelligent and educated woman who knew her rights, "yet she still ended up dead".

Sign up for our UK morning newsletter and get BBC News in your inbox.