A ‘jealous’ husband stabbed his ‘Westernised’ Muslim wife 19 times in the neck after he discovered she was having an affair, leaving her six-year-old son to find her, a court heard.
Farkhanda Younis, 30, known to friends as ‘Jabeen’, was killed in a ‘ferocious’ attack at her home in Chadderton, Oldham, in the early hours of April 19 last year. Her body was found after her six-year-old son, who cannot be named for legal reasons, rang 999 because he couldn’t rouse her and her bedroom door was locked.
Jahangir Nazar, 35, who married Ms Younis in an Islamic ceremony in 2012, has admitted manslaughter but denies murder in a Manchester Crown Court trial, claiming his responsibility was diminished by mental illness.
The prosecution said the takeway delivery driver’s behaviour after the killing, when he allegedly withdrew money, disposed of blood-soaked clothing, and filled up his car, shows a ‘mental agility’ inconsistent with his account.
John Jones QC, opening the case, described Nazar as a possessive, controlling and violent partner who set up a mobile phone as a ‘listening device’ to check up on Ms Younis when he was out.
He was also said to have been facing deportation and to have believed that marrying Ms Younis in a British civil ceremony would secure his stay in Britain.
The court heard that hours before her death, she met up with another man, who was also married, for sex to ‘celebrate his birthday’.
In that time, Nazar tried to call her 25 times, but none of the calls were answered. When she returned home, it’s alleged, Nazar was ‘lying in wait for her’.
Mr Jones said:
‘It’s clear that Jabeen and the defendant had entirely different attitudes to life – it’s clear from others who witnessed the couple that the defendant was very possessive and very controlling of Jabeen.
‘She was far more Westernised, outgoing, and one has to say, promiscuous in the conduct of her life, if what other witnesses say about her is correct.
That is not said in a critical way. Jabeen was entitled to behave in a way she chose, this is not a court of morals or a judgement on her lifestyle.
‘But the fact remains that Jabeen lived in every sense an entirely Westernised lifestyle, she went to nightclubs, she had many boyfriends, she drank alcohol, and she wore Westernised designer clothing. It’s clear she was a very attractive and flirtatious woman.
‘Nazar resented it and sought to control it, and on the night in question, it led to uncontrollable rage.‘The end result was was a significant attack by a man fearful of deportation, jealous of of other men, and resentful of the promiscuity of his girlfriend.’