D-day for family in death penalty plea

From the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, first published Monday 24th Jul 2006.

THE BLACKBURN family of a mother-of-two murdered by her husband in Kashmir have been given a September D-day over whether he will receive the death penalty.

Shagufta Iqbal, 23, who lived with her parents in Park Avenue, Blackburn, was poisoned by husband Fayaz Ahmad in March last year.

Ahmad was sentenced to 25 years in prison after being convicted of the murder of his wife of six years.

But, Kashmiri law allows families of victims to appeal sentences.

And Shagufta's father Javid Iqbal has employed a legal team to lodge an appeal at the High Court in Nagpur for Ahmad to be given the death penalty.

Now the family has been told that this hearing will take place on September 13.

They are hoping the judges will take into account that it was the second time Ahmad had been convicted of murder. The details of the first offence have never been made public.

The family found out about his criminal past when he was refused a UK visa.

Today, speaking exclusively to the Lancashire Telegraph, Shagufta's mother Kalsoom Iqbal said that "it should be a life for a life."

She added: "He has already been given a life sentence but hopefully he will get the death penalty.

"He took a life before he killed our daughter and it should be life for a life."

And she told how the family were still struggling to come to terms with the loss of Shagufta, a former pupil of Blackburn's Pleckgate High School. She added: "It is difficult. They say life goes on but for us it is very hard.

"He's evil and hasn't got a heart. I cry 20 times a day."

After Shagufta's death, the Iqbals with the help of British Embassy officials and Pakistani police, embarked on a successful three-month legal fight to get Shagufta's then two-year-old son, Daanyal back from Ahmad's family who had kidnapped the toddler.

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