EXCLUSIVE: Grandfather of pregnant lawyer pushed to her death from Arthur’s Seat didn’t tell her grieving family he had terminal cancer because he didn’t want to ‘divert attention’ from murder case – and died before her killer husband was jailed
- Relatives called Abdul Latif their ‘leading investigator’ as they fought for justice
The grandfather of a pregnant lawyer who was pushed to her death from Arthur’s Seat did not tell her grieving family he had terminal cancer because he didn’t want to ‘divert attention’ from her murder case – and died before the killer was jailed.
Relatives called Abdul Latif their ‘leading investigator’ as they fought to get justice for Fawziyah Javed, 31, who was murdered by her husband of less than a year Kashif Anwar, 29.
They told MailOnline the courageous 70-year-old kept quiet about his terminal diagnosis until just 48 hours before he died on November 1 – in an extraordinary act of love for his late granddaughter.
Ms Javed’s uncle, Shahid Farouk, 53, said Mr Latif was present when his granddaughter’s body was identified on her birthday, September 4, 2021, and his death had been a ‘huge blow’ to the family.
He said it was ‘devastating’ he was unable to get the ‘closure’ he had sought when Anwar was jailed for 20 years for Ms Javed’s murder yesterday.
Relatives called Abdul Latif, 70, (right) their ‘leading investigator’ as they fought to get justice for Fawziyah Javed, 31
Ms Javed was murdered by her husband of less than a year Kashif Anwar, 29
Mr Farouk said: ‘He was like our leading investigating officer. He was with us all the way. But he sadly died from cancer. And the worst thing about it was that he kept it inside him.
‘Doctors were telling him, ”You must tell your family. You’ve not got long to live.” They gave him a year, but sadly he went within a couple of months.
‘When we went to identify Fawziyah on September 4, we should have been celebrating her birthday, not going to a mortuary to identify her body, and Fawziyah’s grandad went with us.
READ MORE: Inside the violent marriage that ended in murder
‘The reason why he didn’t want to tell anybody was that he knew the family was going through a lot of grief with Fawziyah’s ongoing case, so he didn’t want to trouble us and divert us to his attention.
‘It wasn’t until 48 hours, when his condition deteriorated a lot, that he actually told us.
‘It’s a huge blow for us, losing Fawziyah’s grandfather, not having the closure of the case before he passed away.’
Ms Javed was murdered when she was 17 weeks pregnant after her abusive husband Anwar lured her on a trip to Scotland before shoving her off Arthur’s Seat down a 50ft drop on September 2, 2021.
She used her dying breaths to tell police that her husband was responsible for her death, which helped lead to his successful conviction in Edinburgh’s high court.
Her uncle Mr Farouk said Anwar would have pulled off the ‘perfect murder’ if it was not for her intervention.
The businessmen said: ‘He was a jealous, controlling freak. He didn’t show any remorse at all for what he did, taking not only her life but her child’s life as well.
‘I would have said this guy is a psychopath. It beggars belief. Who would do that? A woman who was educated, she bought him things, and it just wasn’t enough for him.
‘God gave her that strength that she was alive when the police got there.
Ms Javed, pictured working for a Bradford homeless charity, told a witness: ‘Don’t let my husband near me, he pushed me’
Ms Javed, an employment solicitor, with her proud parents on her graduation day
Ms Javed fell around 50ft from Arthur’s Seat (from the blue arrow to the red arrow). She used her final words to make sure witnesses knew she had been shoved by her husband
‘But it was almost the perfect murder for him to get away with, had she not been alive, I don’t think there would be much evidence.’
‘What person not only kills his wife but his own child as well? He showed no remorse whatsoever and he was a coward.
‘He depleted our trust. I remember him telling us, ‘I’ll look after her’. And they bought her home in a body bag. He’s completely ruined our lives.
Paying tribute to his niece, he said: ‘Fawziyah was god gifted. She was educated, and she was the best in my family. She was an only child. She went to gateways private school in Leeds. She was just very humble.
‘Fawziyah was a lawyer by profession. She was a kind-hearted, honest girl. I never shouted at Fawziyah. I brought her up as my own niece. She was just impeccable.
‘She was just a level-headed girl that didn’t show off about anything, that wanted to be loved, but unfortunately she met the wrong guy.’
Mr Farouk said he had hoped Anwar’s sentence would be longer but understood under Scottish law that 20 years was the maximum that the killer could receive.
However, he criticized West Yorkshire Police for not intervening sooner in the abusive relationship between Ms Javed and Anwar when they lived in Leeds.
Just before their sightseeing trip to Edinburgh, Ms Javed – who was 17 weeks’ pregnant and spent her spare time volunteering for various charities – told West Yorkshire Police that Anwar had knocked her unconscious in a graveyard.
In another incident, he put a pillow over her head and punched it repeatedly.
The jury was shown video of Anwar (pictured) harassing his wife in a street
Chilling CCTV footage captured the moments leading up to Ms Javed’s death. She is seen walking behind Anwar in Edinburgh, shortly before he killed her
Ms Javed, seen here walking behind her husband, had wanted to leave him
The jury was also shown video of Anwar harassing his wife in a street and was told Anwar had been overheard in a Leeds hospital telling his wife that if she died in childbirth that ‘would be okay’ because he would ‘be free’.
She reported the abuse to officers, at one point telling them what had happened in a face-to-face meeting.
Mr Farouk said: ‘She should have got better protection, and West Yorkshire Police were in all honesty a bit slow to take action.
‘I think they were going to talk to him, but they’d already taken her to Edinburgh. And he was adamant all the time.
‘She was scared of heights, but she felt if this is going to stop this from happening, maybe this will work.
‘And he had that evil plan. And I don’t think it was planned for a couple of weeks, I think it was something planned for months.’
He added: ‘No sentence is ever going to be enough, but it gives us some comfort and I welcome the judge’s verdict.’
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) told MailOnline: ‘We received a mandatory referral from West Yorkshire Police in September 2021 followed by a complaint referral the following month.
‘We decided that the matter should be investigated and that it should be carried out by the force, to assess whether there were any failings or missed opportunities to safeguard Ms Javed from harm given the multiple reports she had made to officers prior to her death.
‘We advised the force that should its investigation identify any conduct matters, then a re-referral should be made.’
West Yorkshire Police have not responded to requests for comment.
Natasha Rattu, executive director of the Karma Nirvana charity, reads out a statement behalf of Ms Javed’s family outside the High Court in Edinburgh
A family member wears a sweatshirt in memory of Ms Javed
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