Husband jailed for Fatally pushing Pregnant Wife off Arthur’s Seat

Kashif Anwar, aged 29, of Leeds, received a life sentence after he was found guilty of murder by pushing his pregnant wife off Arthur’s Seat.

In September 2021, Anwar had walked “arm-in-arm” with Fawziyah Javed to Arthur’s Seat after a meal before pushing her off the Edinburgh landmark.

Daniyah Rafique managed to reach Fawziyah on the side of the landmark, where she was told:

“Don’t let my husband near me, he pushed me.”

At Edinburgh’s High Court, it was heard that PC Rhiannon Clutton was told by Fawziyah her husband pushed her because she “told him I wanted to end [the marriage]”.

Witnesses found her “writhing” in pain, having fell 50-feet.

Ms Rafique said she found Fawziyah on Arthur’s Seat. She was first approached by Anwar, who was looking “panicked”.

Anwar claimed his wife had fallen and he could not see her, so Ms Rafique made her way back down Arthur’s Seat with Anwar to try to find his wife.

Upon finding her, she said Fawziyah asked: “Am I going to be okay? Is my baby going to be okay?”

Ms Rafique reassured her and told her emergency services were on their way.

She told the court: “She said she was really scared. She kept saying, ‘Don’t let my husband near me, he pushed me’.

“I said this to her a few more times: ‘He pushed you?’”

Two officers then approached.

Fawziyah’s condition further deteriorated when the fire service joined the rescue operation. She soon became “unresponsive” and CPR was performed.

She was pronounced dead at around 10:18 pm on September 2.

The court heard that Fawziyah had previously contacted the police about Anwar’s abusive behaviour and prosecutors able to use her own testimony to expose her husband’s lies.

The couple had got married on December 25, 2020, but the court heard that concerns were raised within months.

Fawziyah’s mother Yasmin Javed explained that Anwar was so “violent” towards her daughter that she set up a text code to alert police.

Mrs Javed told her daughter to text her the secret code, “I like cream cakes” if she needed help, because her husband monitored her calls and texts.

Anwar also stole £12,000 from his wife’s bank account while she was sleeping.

Around three months into the marriage, Fawziyah said she wanted to walk away from it.

Mrs Javed said:

“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.”

Months before the fatal trip to Scotland, Fawziyah told police that her husband had knocked her unconscious in a graveyard and placed a pillow over her head and punched it repeatedly.

Anwar denied murder but was convicted.

Judge Lord Beckett told Anwar: “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.”

Anwar received a life sentence and will serve a minimum of 20 years in prison.

In a statement, Mrs Javed 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.”