Samaira Nazir (ca. 1979 - 23 April 2005) was a 25-year-old

British Pakistani British Pakistanis ( ur, (Bratānia men maqīm pākstānī); also known as Pakistani British people or Pakistani Britons) are British people, citizens or residents of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots lie in Pakistan. This includes ...

woman who was murdered by her brother and cousin in an

honour killing An honor killing (American English), honour killing (Commonwealth English), or shame killing is the murder of an individual, either an outsider or a member of a family, by someone seeking to protect what they see as the dignity and honor of t ...

in Southall, London. Nazir was murdered for refusing to enter into an

arranged marriage Arranged marriage is a type of marital union where the bride and groom are primarily selected by individuals other than the couple themselves, particularly by family members such as the parents. In some cultures a professional matchmaker may be us ...

and for rejecting her parents' choices of suitors from Pakistan. Instead, she became engaged to someone of her own choosing who was from a different

caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

and deemed unsuitable. Samaira's father was also implicated in her murder but fled to Pakistan whilst on bail. His family claimed that he died while a fugitive in Pakistan.

Background

Samaira was born circa 1979 to Azhar Nazir, Sr. and Irshad Begum. Described as "the brightest of the family", she studied travel and tourism at

Thames Valley University The University of West London (UWL) is a public research university in the United Kingdom with campuses in Ealing, Brentford, and in Reading, Berkshire. The university has roots in 1860, when the Lady Byron School was founded, later Ealing Col ...

, taking a directorship role at her brother's recruitment consultancy business following graduation. The Nazir family also owned the Rana Brothers Grocery store in Southall Broadway where Samaira's brother, Azhar Nazir, worked and first met Salman Mohammed. Mohammed had arrived in the United Kingdom from Afghanistan as an illegal immigrant in 2000 and had approached Nazir for help finding accommodation and work. Samaira met Mohammed through his involvement with her brother; their relationship developed over several years, but knowing that Samaira's family would not approve, they kept the relationship a secret until, ultimately, they fell in love and decided they wanted to marry. Samaira had twice been taken to Pakistan to find a suitor for an

but rejected her family's choices. Her family rejected Mohammed because of his origin; he was from a lower

, and they felt he wanted to marry Samaira to have access to the family wealth. Additionally, he'd already contracted a

marriage of convenience A marriage of convenience is a marriage contracted for reasons other than that of love and commitment. Instead, such a marriage is entered into for personal gain, or some other sort of strategic purpose, such as a political marriage. There are ...

to support his immigration status and Samaira's brother claimed he was dishonest and involved in illegal activities. Regardless, in March 2005, Samaira told her family that she was engaged to Mohammed; Mohammed claimed that Samaira's father had threatened him with a knife and that her brother had threatened to kill them both as a result of their engagement.

Murder and investigation

On 23 April 2005, Mohammed and Samaira had attempted to meet with her mother away from the family home, but her mother refused; Nazir then instructed Samaira to return home, where he, her father and mother were waiting for her. Also in attendance was Imran Mohammed (real name Kashif Rana), a 17-year-old illegal immigrant from Pakistan; referred to as a "distant cousin", he lived in an out-building in the garden of the Nazir family home and was considered part of the family. A bitter argument broke out about Samaira's future and she was held down and attacked by her brother Azhar Nazir, Imran Mohammed and, allegedly, her father as well. She was stabbed multiple times and her throat was slashed in what was described as a "prolonged and frenzied attack". Neighbours were alerted by her screams for help; one neighbour knocked on the door but was rebuffed by Nazir, who claimed his sister was "having fits." At one point, Samaira managed to open the front door in a bid to escape, but her brother pulled her back inside by her hair. The attack was witnessed by Samaira's mother and Nazir's daughters, aged two and four. From the outset Nazir denied that he had played any part in his sister's murder, apportioning blame entirely on Imran Mohammed. Mohammed openly admitted responsibility for Samaira's death and insisted that he had acted alone. The police and prosecutors were not convinced and suspected that Mohammed had been instructed to kill Samaira by other members of the family, with prosecutor

Nazir Afzal Nazir Afzal (born October 1962, Birmingham) is a British solicitor and former prosecutor within the Crown Prosecution Service. Afzal spent most of his career in the Crown Prosecution Service, rising to be Chief Crown Prosecutor for North West ...

stating: "We knew there was a wider web of guilt (...) We had to break the

omertà Omertà (, ) is a Southern Italian code of silence and code of honor and conduct that places importance on silence in the face of questioning by authorities or outsiders; non-cooperation with authorities, the government, or outsiders, especiall ...

, the code of silence. We knew the people involved would not talk."

Covert listening device A covert listening device, more commonly known as a bug or a wire, is usually a combination of a miniature radio transmitter with a microphone. The use of bugs, called bugging, or wiretapping is a common technique in surveillance, espionage and ...

s were deployed in the family home, and sufficient

circumstantial evidence Circumstantial evidence is evidence that relies on an inference to connect it to a conclusion of fact—such as a fingerprint at the scene of a crime. By contrast, direct evidence supports the truth of an assertion directly—i.e., without need ...

was obtained to justify the arrest of Nazir Jr. and Nazir Sr. Both were charged, but Nazir Sr. was released on bail and fled to Pakistan before the trial. The family claimed that he later died there, but the police were sceptical.

Legal proceedings

Azhar Franklin Nazir and Imran Mohammed stood trial at the Central Criminal Court, with Nazir maintaining his innocence and Mohammed using the partial defence of

diminished responsibility In criminal law, diminished responsibility (or diminished capacity) is a potential defense by excuse by which defendants argue that although they broke the law, they should not be held fully criminally liable for doing so, as their mental f ...

. The prosecution's case was one of

joint enterprise The doctrine of common purpose, common design, joint enterprise, joint criminal enterprise or parasitic accessory liability is a common law legal doctrine that imputes criminal liability to the participants in a criminal enterprise for all reaso ...

. Nazir acknowledged that he did not approve of Samaira's relationship and accepted that he was present when she was killed, but he maintained that he had only witnessed the latter part of the struggle between his sister and Imran Mohammed, that he had seen this from a distance, and that he had neither participated in the murder nor played a part in planning or executing it. Despite claiming to be "horrified" by what he was witnessing, he conceded that he did not try to intervene. The forensic evidence of airborne blood on his clothing was not consistent with his account of witnessing the murder from a distance, and two witnesses testified that Samaira was dragged back into the house when she tried to escape, one of whom identified Nazir directly as the individual who had dragged Samaira back into the house. On 15 June 2006, Imran Mohammed was found unanimously guilty of murder. On 16 June 2006, Nazir was convicted of the same by an 11-1 majority verdict. On 14 July 2006, both were sentenced to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

; Mohammed was detailed at Her Majesty's pleasure for a minimum of 10 years and Nazir received a minimum tariff of 20 years.

, area director for the

Crown Prosecution Service The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales. It is headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions. The main responsibilities of the CPS are to provide legal adv ...

, who was responsible for the

prosecution A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal trial ...

, stated: John Reid, a Detective Inspector from the

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

who worked on the case, said, "There is nothing at all honourable about her brutal death." Azhar Nazir appealed against his conviction, but the appeal was duly dismissed in February 2009.

References

External links

Killed by her brother and cousin ... for falling in love with an asylum seeker
Report on the sentence of the killers * : Article in

Frontline Front line refers to the forward-most forces on a battlefield. Front line, front lines or variants may also refer to: Books and publications * ''Front Lines'' (novel), young adult historical novel by American author Michael Grant * ''Frontlines ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nazir, Samaira 2005 murders in the United Kingdom 2000s murders in London 2000s trials 21st century in the London Borough of Ealing April 2005 crimes April 2005 events in the United Kingdom Old Bailey Honour killing in the United Kingdom Deaths by person in London Murder in London Murder trials Sororicides Southall Trials in London Violence against women in England Violence against women in London

Background

Murder and investigation

Legal proceedings

See also

References

External links