Wife of murder accused tells court that he stabbed her also

The wife of a 31-year-old man on trial for murder has given evidence that he stabbed her and her cousin several weeks after she left him.

Shahzad Hussain, of Fitzwilliam Court, Dyer Street, Drogheda denies murdering Muhammad Arif and causing harm to Rashid Bibi Haider in January 2011.

Rashda Bibi Haider broke down after telling the court how she returned to Europe after her arranged marriage to Mr Hussain in their native Pakistan.

He joined her in Ireland in 2010 and they lived with her cousin Mr Arif at his apartment in Drogheda but she said things changed and she left without warning that December.

She told the jury that on a return visit to her cousin in January, there was a knock and her husband entered the apartment.

She said he looked angry, he slapped and beat her, asked her cousin where she was living and then took a kitchen knife and stabbed them both before cutting her throat.

Her cousin died the following day.

She said she was not romantically involved Mr Arif but agreed that her husband may have believed they were.