A man accused of killing his wife was so “violent” towards her that her mother created a secret code she could text if she ever needed police help, a court has heard.
Kashif Anwar, 29, is believed to have pushed Fawziyah Javed, 31, off Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh in September 2021, killing them and their unborn child.
Jurors at the city’s Supreme Court heard Ms Javed’s mother, Nighat Yasmin Javed, was “very concerned” about her daughter and those concerns intensified after the couple married in December 2020.
She gave evidence and told them, “I said if you think you’re in danger just text me ‘I’m in the mood for cream pie,’ and I’ll contact the police.”
This was due to the “abuse, violence, aggression and coercive control” in the relationship, which included, she said, Anwar withdrawing £12,000 from her daughter’s bank account while she slept.
She said her daughter’s calls and texts were tapped by Anwar, and her daughter wanted to get out of the marriage between three or four months after the wedding.
Ms Javed told the jury: ‘The accused was abusive, controlling, manipulative, aggressive and violent towards her. She didn’t want to stay in such a marriage, she wanted to leave.’
The court heard a recording of Anwar’s wife, who worked as an employment lawyer and called a law firm for advice on a divorce.
The trial, on its second day, also heard from James Duncan, 25, who was walking up Arthur’s Seat with his girlfriend on the evening of 2 September when Ms Javed was found.
He said, “There were a few cries in my memory. One was of a woman screaming, then I heard a man scream after I heard the woman scream.”
He said that soon after, he saw Anwar with another woman who was looking for a charged mobile phone to call emergency services.
Mr Duncan said: ‘The gentleman said his wife had fallen off the top and wanted me to call 999 to contact ambulance or police or emergency services to help them with the situation.’
On the initial 999 call, operators were told she could be heard screaming after the fall.
The court heard that on a second call, Anwar told the ambulance service that they had both slipped.
During cross-examination, Mr Duncan, who told the court he had climbed the hill more than 100 times, said the suspect was wearing regular shoes and not hiking boots.
The trial, for Lord Beckett, continues.
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