Author: Cahal Milmo
Publication: The Independent, UK
Date: January 14, 2003
URL: http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/story.jsp?story=368103
An Asian bride murdered on her wedding
day was killed in a family feud after she rejected an arranged marriage
to marry her "first real love", police said yesterday.
Sahda Bibi, 21, dressed in a gold
wedding gown and adorned with jewellery, was found dead moments after she
had suffered 14 stab wounds to her neck and body at her family home in
Birmingham.
Relatives were making final preparations
for the traditional Pakistani wedding as the bride waited in her bedroom
for the ceremony.
Her husband-to-be, whom she had
started seeing secretly five months earlier before making the romance public,
suffered slash wounds to his legs as he confronted the killer.
Detectives yesterday named one of
Ms Bibi's cousins, Rafaquat Hussain, aged 37, as the prime suspect for
the murder, which took place at about 2.30pm on Saturday.
West Midlands Police said that Mr
Hussain, from Surrey, had boarded a flight to Pakistan only hours after
Ms Bibi was found dead. Officers say Mr Hussain, aged 37, was unhappy about
the marriage and, having travelled from his home town of Camberley, rowed
with the bride before she was slain.
The businessman, who has three children,
is believed to have remonstrated with Ms Bibi over her choice of bridegroom.
Friends of Ms Bibi's father, Sadkar Khan, said Mr Hussain had been furious
at the family's decision late last year to reject a proposed union with
a member of his own immediate family. Instead, Ms Bibi persuaded her father
to allow her to marry Zafar Hussein, 26, a distant relative from Barnsley,
South Yorkshire.
Ms Bibi, a dressmaker, told her
parents of the relationship in November.
Acting Detective Superintendent
Laurie Dyer, who is leading the investigation, said: "Some members of the
extended family were not happy that the marriage was a love match rather
than arranged.
"We believe [Rafaquat] Hussain was
unhappy with the proposed marriage and came to Birmingham. There was an
argument between him and the bride, which resulted in her being stabbed
a number of times."
Witnesses claimed that Mr Hussain
had lured Ms Bibi to her death by pretending to want to take a picture
of her before stabbing her with a kitchen knife as guests arrived.
Mohammed Wazir, 27, a family friend
who was in the house, said: "We were all looking forward to a day which
should have been full of happiness. Shortly after the groom had arrived,
I heard some banging and screaming coming from the bedroom. We raced upstairs
and Sahda was lying on the floor covered in blood.
"Rafaquat had come into her room
and asked if he could take a picture of her because she looked so wonderful.
As soon as they were alone, that is when the screaming started."
Ms Bibi died at the scene. A post-mortem
examination found injuries to her head, neck and shoulders.
Detectives believe the killing had
been carefully planned. Mr Hussain allegedly made his escape by jumping
into a waiting BMW driven by another man. West Midlands Police said officers
were not seeking anyone else in connection with the assault.
Police across the country were searching
for Mr Hussain last night although they suspect he might now be in Pakistan.
Interpol is understood to have been alerted.
Ms Bibi, who was due to leave the
home she shared with her brother and parents for the first time on her
wedding night, had met her bridegroom through a female cousin who lives
in Alum Rock.
Zafar Hussein, whose injuries are
not life-threatening, is the brother-in-law of that cousin. The woman's
husband is the younger brother of Rafaquat Hussain.
Neighbours of Ms Bibi's family said
Mr Khan, 65, had initially disapproved of the match when his daughter said
she had been meeting Zafar Hussein during his visits from Yorkshire but
had been convinced of the couple's love.
One family friend said: "She was
very excited about the wedding. She said she was in love and this was her
first real love. She told me, 'I'm not going to marry anybody else'."
It is understood the agreement of
Ms Bibi's parents to the marriage was not shared by other relatives, including
Mr Hussain, who put forward one of his own cousins as a suitor.
Mr Khan, whose wife has been unable
to return to the family home since the killing, said last night: "Sahda
was born here. I told her 'You're a Brummie. As my daughter, who you want
to marry, you marry'."
Describing how he found the bride
after the stabbing, he said: "I saw her blood, I held her hand and said
'Sahda'. But she didn't speak."