Man murdered pregnant wife by pushing her 50ft off landmark

An abusive man who pushed his pregnant wife to her death off an Edinburgh landmark days before she was set to leave him has been jailed for at least 20 years.

Kashif Anwar, 29, from Leeds, was found guilty of the September 2021 murder of Fawziyah Javed, 31, and that of her unborn child, after a six-day trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.

Ms Javed, who was around 17 weeks pregnant when she was pushed from Arthur’s Seat, used her dying words to reveal that her abusive husband had caused her to fall about 50ft.

Daniyah Rafique, 24, managed to reach the dying employment lawyer on the side of the hill, where she was told: “Don’t let my husband near me – he pushed me.”

Pc Rhiannon Clutton, 35, was told by Ms Javed that her husband pushed her because she “told him I wanted to end [the marriage]”.

Judge Lord Beckett imposed a mandatory life sentence on Anwar with an imprisonment period of a minimum of 20 years.

He told him: “You have been found guilty of murdering Fawziyah Javed, who was a very special person. She was your pregnant wife, and you also caused the death of your unborn child.”

He told the killer that his victim was willing to trust that he would keep her safe when they went up Arthur’s Seat, but that he pushed her off when nobody else was around.

The judge said Yasmin Javed, Ms Javed’s mother, had described her as a “beautiful soul inside and out” who was a popular person. As Anwar was handcuffed and taken to the cells, a member of Ms Javed’s family shouted: “Die you b------” at him.

In a victim impact statement, Ms Javed’s mother said: “There are just no words to describe the depth of pain and grief. There’s no words in the English dictionary that go deep enough.”

A statement read on behalf of the Javed family outside court said: “Our life sentence began the day that our daughter was brutally murdered. Whilst we welcome the verdict, this outcome does not feel like justice when compared to what we have lost.”

Giving evidence, Mrs Javed, 56, said she was “very worried” about her daughter, adding: “I said if you feel that you are in danger, just text me, ‘I feel like cream cakes’ and I will contact the police.

“The accused was being abusive, controlling, manipulative, aggressive and violent towards her. She didn’t want to stay in a marriage like that, she wanted to leave.”

Ms Javed married the University of Bradford optometry student at an Islamic ceremony on Dec 25, 2020.

Anwar and his victim had checked into a hotel in Edinburgh on August 31 and were to return to Yorkshire on Sept 4, which would have been Ms Javed’s 32nd birthday.

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

On Sept 2, she was pushed to her death from the Edinburgh landmark in Holyrood Park.

CCTV showed the couple walking arm-in-arm through Waverley railway station towards Arthur’s Seat, and shortly afterwards Anwar walking in front as they passed the Scottish Parliament.

A selfie of the pair was taken on Ms Javed’s phone at about 8.30pm, the last picture of her alive. Shortly afterwards, she was pushed over the edge.

In the first 999 call, operators were told she could be heard screaming after the fall. The court heard that in a second call, Anwar told the ambulance service that they both fell.

Firefighter Sean Stratford was one of the emergency responders dispatched to the scene just after 9pm.

He said he was approached by a man, who he could not identify, telling the court: “He said that he stood up to take a selfie, he slipped and bumped her and she had fallen. She was not in a very good state at all.”

The firefighter said Ms Javed had been slipping in and out of consciousness on the hillside until emergency responders had to start resuscitation. She was declared dead on the hillside at 10.18pm.

In the early hours of the next morning, Pc Sean Henderson said Anwar was told of the news. “There wasn’t much of a reaction in my opinion, he didn’t say much to it and didn’t have any obvious physical reaction,” he said.

After being told of his wife’s death, Anwar told Pc Henderson: “I know how this looks. We had our problems as a couple, but...”

The court was told that Anwar never finished what he was saying as more officers entered the room and he was arrested on suspicion of murder.

Pc Henderson told the court: “From start to near finish, he was very calm and composed throughout. I was actually struck how calm his demeanour was throughout.”