The woman who caught her own killer: Pregnant lawyer's last words helped jail murderer who pushed her off cliff
26 February 2024, 16:58
A pregnant lawyer who was pushed over the side of a cliff by her husband has helped jail her killer from beyond the grave.
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Fawziyah Javed and her unborn child died after Kashif Anwar threw her 50ft off Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh.
Anwar, 29, from Leeds, was jailed for at least 20 years after being found guilty of the 31-year-old's murder during a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.
Some of her last words, overheard by a passerby as she lay critically injured in the street, were: "Don’t let my husband near me, he pushed me."
In the months leading up to the murder Fawziyah, a lawyer, collected evidence of Anwar’s abusive behaviour towards her – and she even set up a secret code with her mother so she could text if she ever needed help from the police.
Fawziyah’s mum, Nighat Yasmin Javed, said her concerns for her daughter’s safety grew after the couple married in December 2020 because of the "abuse, the violence, the aggression, and coercive control" – and she told her daughter to text her "I feel like cream cakes" if she felt like she was in danger.
A two-part Channel 4 documentary has since revealed "a great deal of evidence" collected by Fawziyah made up the "pillar" of the prosecution case and was "crucial" in securing the murder conviction.
The documentary, called The Push, was given permission to film the trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.
Alex Prentice KC, lead prosecutor, said she had secretly recorded phone calls of Anwar threatening her, and she went to police twice to record his abusive behaviour.
The second report, tragically, was made just days before the couple went on their weekend trip to Edinburgh when Anwar struck.
Mr Prentice added: "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 added that it would have been "very difficult" to find Anwar guilty without that evidence.
A friend and legal colleague of Fawziyah called Ingrid added: "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."
