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Daughter of imam cleared of murdering ex-boyfriend over revenge porn threats (25 June 2015)

Date: 25/06/2015
Duncan Lewis, Family Solicitors, Daughter of imam cleared of murdering ex-boyfriend over revenge porn threats

The daughter of an imam has been cleared of murdering her ex-boyfriend, who had tried to blackmail her with revenge porn.

City University law student Nargis Riaz, 22, was acquitted of murdering Mohammed Yasser Afzal after a retrial, the Daily Mail reports.

In April, her “bad boy” lover Gulam Chowdhury, 24, was convicted of Mr Afzal’s murder and was sentenced to a minimum of 28 years, which he is spending in Broadmoor.

Ms Riaz had left her boyfriend and returned to Chowdhury after he came out of prison in February 2014. The two had been teenage sweethearts, the court heard.

However, Afzal threatened to send topless images of Ms Riaz – taken while they were in a sexual relationship – to her family.

Ms Riaz said at first her relationship with Mr Azfal was loving – but he became controlling and after they had split up, was verbally abusive.

She had ended their relationship in 2012, but the cab controller – who worked for his family’s taxi business in Stratford, east London – continued to “pester” her, the court heard.

On the night Mr Azfal was killed in March 2014, Ms Riaz had arranged to meet him at the E20 cab firm where he was working.

While they were talking, Chowdhury burst in – covered up so that Ms Riaz did not recognise him – and brutally stabbed Mr Afzal to death more than 20 times, leaving him to bleed to death.

Ms Riaz fled the scene, but the attack was caught on CCTV and was shown to the jury.

Ms Riaz told the court she had fled the scene rather than stay with Mr Azfal as he lay dying because she was in shock. She wept as the CCTV footage was played in court, saying that she did not wish any harm to come to him and still had feelings of love for him. She added that she thought the knife blade had missed Mr Azfal – but wondered later if the attacker was Chowdhury attempting to retrieve the photos of Ms Riaz from Mr Afzal’s mobile phone.

“I clearly wasn't thinking because I went into shock... My mind went numb and when I went into shock my brain wasn't working. I couldn't take anything in,” she told the prosecution.

”When I saw that knife I was scared... I have never been that close to someone covered like that, waving a knife about.”

Ms Riaz and Chowdhury had, however, had a conversation about killing Mr Azfal, after Chowdhury said to her in a text that he was “willing to burn for her”.

'I am going to sort this... no one will hurt Nargis and live... A killing would be justified according to Islam,” Chowdhury told her.

Ms Riaz had replied, “How would I live with myself, knowing I got you to do the ultimate?”

The court heard they had also discussed the film “Bully'” – in which a group of friends murders an abusive ex-boyfriend.

Chowdhury had told her that the attack was justified in Islam.

“Cut the neck of the man who eyed up his wife,” he told Ms Riaz, later adding:

“Don't worry little angel, it's me who's a psycho not you.”

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