A MAN has been jailed for life for brutally murdering his estranged wife - although nobody will ever know what sparked the fatal row.
But "wicked" killer Zameer Ahmed, 27, was forgiven by his victim's devastated parents the day he murdered their daughter, it has been revealed. Ahmed admitted murdering Nazia, the cousin he had married just a couple of years earlier, in a frenzied attack at her home in Shear Bank Road, Blackburn, last June.
The 23-year-old was stabbed six times after Ahmed stashed two 20cm kitchen knives down the waistband of his trousers and turned up at her house demanding to see her.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment, with a recommendation to serve at least 16 years, at Manchester Crown Court yesterday.
Ahmed, of Shear Bank Road, pleaded not guilty to seriously injuring his estranged wife's sister, Shazia, 20, who desperately tried to protect Nazia before running for help.
The judge accepted the view that only Ahmed could have been responsible for the attack on Shazia.
advertisement
But he agreed to the prosecution's request to leave the charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm on Ahmed's file.
After the case, detectives said the couple's cordial relationship belied Ahmed's growing anger at Nazia's refusal to agree to a reconciliation.
Nazia Ahmed
But Nazia and Ahmed's uncle, Mohammed Ilyas, said: "Nobody, not even Zameer, knows what made him go from being angry to doing what he did on that day."
The Blackburn businessman added: "There's no happy ending to this. Time is a healer, a great healer. We don't know how we will feel when he is released from prison, we will cross that bridge when we come to it.
"However Nazia's mum, my sister, and dad forgave him the first day. They forgave him in a religious sense. Even in after life he will have to answer for what he did."
A family statement said: "We have lost our daughter, nothing will bring her back.
"We all continue to grieve for a special person."
The court heard how Ahmed finally snapped on Saturday June 17, little more than an hour after attending a family party at the sisters' house for their brother Waseem, 24.
Anthony Cross, prosecuting, said Ahmed forced his way past Shazia and confronted Nazia in the rear lounge about why she would not see him.
After fighting off her sister, he plunged one of the knives into Nazia, inflicting horrific wounds up to 15cm deep.
She died shortly after at Royal Blackburn Hospital.
A nationwide manhunt was launched, culminating in Ahmed's arrest in Blackburn nine days after the murder.
Judge Michael Henshell said the savage assault not only killed Ahmed's wife but left her sister Shazia with injuries so serious that she still needed further surgery and had left her thumb almost severed.
He said: "This tragic and savage offence that has taken Nazia's life deprived her family of their much loved daughter, a loss that they will feel for the rest of their lives."
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
Print
Email this
