Men jailed for ‘honour’ killing of female relative
Samaira Nazir, a 25-year-old graduate and recruitment consultant, was knifed to death after her family were angered by her demands to marry Salman Mohammed.
The Old Bailey heard the Pakistani family disapproved of the Afghan asylum seeker, accusing him of being after their money.
Sally Howes QC, prosecuting, told the court: “Following a heated argument about her relationship with Salman, she was attacked and killed. She lost her life for loving the wrong man.”
Samaira was stabbed at the family home in Abbotts Road, Southall, west London, in April last year by her brother Azhar Nazir, 30, and cousin Imran Mohammed, 17. Nazir was jailed for life for a minimum of 20 years and Mohammed jailed for a minimum of 10.
Judge Christopher Moss told them: “This was a barbaric crime. She suffered a brutal, gruesome and horrific death.
“Samaira Nazir was an accomplished young woman who was murdered by members of her family because she insisted on marrying someone deemed unsuitable.”
It was witnessed in the family home by two young nieces who were spattered with blood. When Samaira tried to escape she was dragged back into the house by her brother.
She died after being stabbed 18 times and having her throat cut by Mohammed, a youth with low intellect, who had “carried out the sentence of death passed”.
The judge told Nazir: “You were her judge and jury, although you may not have been alone. You claimed to have loved your sister, but were guilty of orchestrating her murder.”
The judge lifted a ban on identifying Mohammed, a distant cousin of Samaira.
Samaira’s businessman father, arrested and bailed for the killing, fled to Pakistan and was claimed by the family to have died there.
Detective Inspector John Reid said: “This was a brutal and appalling murder of a girl because she fell in love with a man that her family did not approve of.”
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