MAN JAILED FOR MURDERING WIFE IN FRONT OF CHILDREN
Zafar Iqbal, aged 62, committed the murder of Naziat Khan in her home in Norbury, located in south-west London, during August 2001.Following the crime, Iqbal left their three young daughters under the care of an acquaintance and escaped to Pakistan.
At the Old Bailey court, he received a sentence of at least 19 years after confessing to killing the 38-year-old woman.
The time he has already spent in custody five years and 15 days will be deducted from his remaining prison term.
During the hearing, the court learned that Ms Khan, who was born in England, had married Iqbal in Pakistan in 1985 through an arranged marriage.
During the sentencing, Anthony Orchard KC detailed incidents of domestic abuse, including an assault that resulted in Ms Khan sustaining two black eyes.
In January 2000, Iqbal reportedly wrapped a scarf around her head and mouth, tied up her legs, and threatened to kill her, according to court evidence.
He also stole some jewelry from her.
This attack was reported to police but was later withdrawn.
In June of the same year, Ms Khan began proceedings for an Islamic divorce following an incident where she was left with a swollen lip.
By January of the following year, they agreed to reconcile, but the relationship again deteriorated by June.
Mr Orchard KC noted that records from the Islamic Council indicated that on 20 August 2001, Iqbal contacted their office requesting an additional four months to respond.
He asked to be contacted by phone instead of by letter, claiming that someone had read one of his letters and it caused him embarrassment.
Shortly after 13:00 that same day, Naziat Khan was murdered.
The prosecution said Iqbal's motive was primarily the shame he feared would follow her demand for a divorce, alongside a belief that she was involved with another man.
On the day of the murder, two of the daughters, aged around 10, returned home and found their mother on the floor with a scarf around her neck, with their father and a three-year-old sister present, according to police reports.
Detectives reported that the girls begged their father to release their mother, but he tightened the scarf, causing her to stop moving.
When asked by one daughter why he was doing it, Iqbal allegedly replied, “Because she is having a divorce,” the court was told.
He warned the children that if they talked or cried, he would tighten the scarf further, which would hurt their mother.
He then took the scarf from one daughter and tightened it around her neck as well, threatening to do the same to both if they didn't stop crying.
Police said Iqbal made one of the children write a note purportedly from their mother stating she had gone to stay with relatives.
He then attached this note to the front door and took the children to an acquaintance in Croydon, fleeing the UK.
Iqbal was arrested in December 2017 and extradited back to the UK in 2021.
Judge Munro KC described Iqbal’s decision to run as “cowardly” and stated that he had spent many years living as an “undeserved free man.” One of the daughters, who remains anonymous for legal reasons, expressed her hope that her mother would not be reduced to a statistic in “honour killing.” She addressed Iqbal directly, saying: “I pray you never forget her face, and that when you sleep, you think of not only her future you stole but ours as well.
She will never be forgotten and will stay in our hearts.” The other two children also spoke, revealing they had waited 21 years for justice and that they had endured many hardships but never lost hope.
Defense lawyer Edward Brown KC argued for a lighter sentence, citing cultural attitudes towards marriage and family as factors influencing Iqbal’s actions.
However, the judge told Iqbal he would face the punishment he deserved, emphasizing the impact on the children, saying: “They lost their mother, their father, and their childhood.
You took away their home, their friend, their teacher, their parent.”
