A witness testified in court that she saw a man suspected of killing his wife “pulling” her around in the months before her death. Nicola Lilley, 44, of Leeds, told the High Court in Edinburgh that after observing the incident in August 2021, she realised “something wasn’t right.” The judge was shown CCTV footage of a man obstructing Fawziyah Javed’s route. Kashif Anwar, 29, claims he killed his wife by shoving her off Arthur’s Seat. The witness, who appeared online from the West Yorkshire city, told the prosecution she saw Ms Fawziyah Javed, 31, being “pulled around” and became worried for her.
Ms Lilly said: “I just knew something wasn’t right. She was just trying to get away from him and (he) was being, sort of, aggressive towards her.”
Ms Lilly later discovered Ms Javed talking to another lady, and she provided the alleged victim her phone number. According to the court, Ms Javed looked “very upset and scared” and named the guy to Ms Lilly as her spouse. Ms Lilly stated that a vehicle then passed by, and Ms Javed stated, “It’s my father-in-law.” “She got really scared, then she said, ‘please tell them what he’s just been like with me, they won’t believe me,” the witness continued. According to the court, Ms Javed finally climbed into the car, and Ms Lilly chose to pursue it to Galloway Lane, Pudsey, where Ms Javed resided.
Mr Anwar rejects all allegations against him, including one of threatening and abusing his wife in an Edinburgh hotel the day before the alleged murder. The pair, who married in 2020, checked into the Residence Inn in Edinburgh for a four-night visit on September 1, 2021, according to the judge. Ms Javed perished the next day as a result of complications from numerous injuries and a fall from a great height. The hearing proceeds before Lord Beckett.
