Muhammed Hussain Iqbal Jailed for Murder of Salma Parveen
Salma had married Iqbal in an Islamic ceremony in 2012 and to secure his visa – which expired in 2014 – he wanted to marry in a civil ceremony. But he became enraged when he found out Salma had cancelled the civil ceremony just weeks before her death.
Iqbal refused to believe the marriage was over and on the morning of 29 April 2013 – whilst Salma was getting ready for work – he took her by surprise and wrapped a scarf around her neck and killed her.
He then bound her hands and feet with scarves and hid her body as best he could before fleeing the house and boarding a train bound for London.
When he arrived in London he had a pang of conscience and walked into Bishopsgate police station and told officers that he had “come from Coventry where I’ve committed a murder.”
He was taken back to Coventry and admitted to killing Salma in police interviews. But he entered a not guilty plea to her murder at court which meant Salma’s family was put through a distressing lengthy trial.
The jury of four men and eight women at Stafford Crown Court heard that Salma was murdered within hours of Iqbal allegedly seeing her kissing another man and suspected she was seeing someone else.
The family of Salma have paid tribute to their “beautiful” daughter, they said: “Salma was the spark of our family and full of ambitions and dreams waiting to come true. Her life has not only been taken away from her, our lifestyle, spark and bonding of the family has also gone with her.
“Salma was the person we could trust with our eyes closed, the person who was always there for us, the person who we all looked up to. She was so beautiful and so was her heart. She was full of energy and up for any challenge regardless of how difficult it was. “
Sergeant Mick Griffiths, from, the force’s Major Investigation Review team, said: “Throughout this trial Iqbal claimed that he didn’t intend to kill Salma and that he had suffered a loss of control due to provocation.
“He has changed his defence and alleged in court that Salma attacked him with a knife. This was pure fabrication and the jury saw through these lies.
“Their relationship had broken down and Salma wanted him to leave the family home. Iqbal chose his moment carefully and then struck. Salma had no chance to defend herself and he killed her in a fit of temper.
“He lied to Salma’s father about where she was on the day she died, saying that she had gone to work when in fact she lay dead in the house.
“He travelled to London, and with very little money and no place to go, he had little choice but to hand himself in.
“Throughout the trial he has sought to sully the good name of Salma who was a young hardworking lady. I hope that today’s verdict brings some solace to the family.”
