Husband Sentenced for Brutal Murder of Wife After Divorce Row
At the Old Bailey on Thursday, 8 December, Zafar Iqbal, 62, pleaded guilty to murdering his wife Naziat Zafar in August 2001. The murder followed her attempts to divorce him. Today, Monday 19 December, he was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 19 years, minus time served.
Fugitive Arrested After 16 Years on the Run
Immediately after the murder, Iqbal fled the UK. A massive manhunt ensued, involving the National Crime Agency, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and the Crown Prosecution Service. He was finally tracked down and arrested in Pakistan in 2017 and extradited back to the UK in September 2021.
Detective Chief Inspector Will White, who led the investigation, said: “Iqbal carried out the calculated and brutal murder of his wife simply because she wanted to leave their marriage. Not only did he kill her in the most horrific of ways, he did so in front of three of their children, the youngest only three years old at the time.
“As well as growing up without their mother, the children live with the trauma of witnessing her murder—a memory that has profoundly impacted their lives. Iqbal thought he could escape justice by fleeing the country, but we never gave up. Thanks to the determination of officers and criminal justice agencies, he will now spend most, if not all, of his life behind bars.”
Chilling Details of the Murder
In June 2000, Naziat began divorce proceedings. Iqbal had already moved out of their Norbury home, where they lived with their four children. He was unhappy about the divorce and requested more time to respond to the petition.
On 20 August 2001, their two daughters, aged 10, came home to find their father strangling their mother with a scarf. Their three-year-old sister was also present. Despite their pleas, Iqbal tightened the scarf until Naziat stopped moving.
He also threatened the children by putting the scarf around one daughter’s neck and warned he would do the same if they didn’t stop crying. Then, he forced the girls to write a fake note claiming their mother had gone to a relative’s house in Manchester and would return in two days.
Iqbal left the note on the front door, took the children to a family friend in Croydon, and told them their mother was in hospital in Tooting. He vanished before the next morning.
Aftermath and Justice Served
The children’s 15-year-old brother, who was away on the day of the attack, returned home to find Naziat dead. Emergency services confirmed she died from ligature strangulation.
Police quickly launched a murder investigation and discovered Iqbal had likely fled the country. The long hunt ended with his arrest in Pakistan in 2017. After two decades, justice is finally served.
