Mother of woman murdered at Edinburgh landmark haunted by daughter’s last words

The mother of a pregnant woman murdered by her abusive husband has said she will never forget her daughter’s last words asking if she and her baby were going to die.

Fawziyah Javed, 31, and her unborn child died after she was pushed from Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh, in September 2021.

Kashif Anwar, 29, from Leeds, was found guilty of the murder after a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh and was given a life sentence and ordered to serve at least 20 years behind bars.

In a television interview Ms Javed’s mother Yasmin Javed told BBC Newsnight her daughter had contacted divorce lawyers and had made voice recordings of Anwar being abusive.

She said she will never forget her daughter’s last words asking “Am I going to die? Is my baby going to die?”

Mrs Javed said: “The words go round around my head every single day.

“Alongside the grief and pain, I can’t get them words out of my mind.”

The BBC reported that in one of the voice recordings Anwar can be heard telling his wife not to challenge him, saying: “Don’t challenge me, do not be that British woman.”

Her daughter, who was about 17 weeks pregnant when she was pushed from Arthur’s Seat, used her dying words to reveal it was her abusive husband who caused her to fall about 50ft before her body came to a rest.

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.”

Giving evidence during the trial Mrs Javed said Anwar was “abusive, controlling, manipulative, aggressive and violent” towards her daughter.

She told the BBC that he did not like the fact his wife was independent.

Mrs Javed said: “”He didn’t like the fact that Fawzi had her own voice, her own opinions.

“He didn’t like that.”

She said her daughter had contacted divorce lawyers to “get the ball rolling” but Anwar always said he would never divorce her.

The mother told the BBC: “He used to say to Fawziyah, we don’t have divorces in our family, we don’t divorce, we stay in marriages, no matter what.”

Sentencing Anwar in April, Lord Beckett said he had committed a “wicked crime” and had showed no remorse.

He told him: “She was willing to trust that you would keep her safe when she agreed to accompany you on your project to climb Arthur’s Seat despite a fear of heights and being pregnant.

“She was entitled to expect your protection and support.”

Lord Beckett added: “As a result of your actions, Fawziyah Javed died far from home on a Scottish hillside and her loving family are left devastated and will never be the same again.

“Had she lived she would have given birth to your child some months later, but that life was also extinguished by you.”