The Push: Murder on the Cliff reveals how Fawziyah Javed helped solve her own murder on Arthur’s Seat
Channel 4 will give audiences an inside look into the murder of Fawziyah Javed in new documentary The Push: Murder on the Cliff.
The two-part series will provide an inside look into the Scottish High Court[1] trial which found Javed’s husband Kashif Anwar guilty of murder, despite a lack of physical evidence.
In September 2021, Fawziyah Javed was pushed from a rocky outcrop of Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh[2] while 17-weeks pregnant.
Fawziyah Javed died after her husband pushed her from Edinburgh’s Arthur’s Seat.
Despite falling 15 metres (50 feet), Fawziyah survived long enough to tell a witness: “Don’t let my husband near me, he pushed me.”
In The Push: Murder on the Cliff, audiences will receive a rare look inside court proceedings as prosecutors build a case against Kashif Anwar not around forensic evidence, but materials gathered by his victim.
With exclusive access inside the trial, here’s everything you need to know about Fawziyah Javed, how she solved her own murder beyond the grave and what exactly her husband Kashif Anwar subjected her to and where he is now.
What are the rules around filming in court in Scotland?
In Scotland, the rules surrounding cameras and filming in court are slightly different than those in England and Wales.
The Jury must never be shown on camera and witnesses can request to have their voices altered or to be shot from the neck down to avoid identification. In addition, in the case of sentencing being filmed only the judge may be shown – not the accused, counsel or public benches.
Who was Fawziyah Javed?
Originally from Leeds, Fawziyah Javed was born on September 4th, 1989. She was a well-educated young woman[3], described as being “kind, generous, would do anything for anybody”.
Fawziyah worked as an employment lawyer, and first met Kashif Anwar in August 2019 alongside her mother, Yasmin Javed. Anwar worked at an opticians in Leeds city centre, close to Fawziyah’s home in Pudsey, as an optical assistant.
Fawziyah Javed with her parents Mohammed and Yasmin Javed. She was on a visit to Edinburgh with husband Kashif Anwar when he murdered her by pushing her off Arthur’s Seat.
Shortly following their first meeting Anwar saw Fawziyah without her mother one day, telling her that she was the type of woman he would like to marry.
By July 2020, the couple had become engaged and they were married in an Islamic ceremony on December 25th the same year.
What was the relationship between Fawziyah Javed and Kashif Anwar like?
Following the wedding, Fawziyah’s family grew concerned over her relationship with Anwar.
While giving evidence, Yasmin Javed told advocate depute Alex Prentice KC that she was “very worried” about her daughter.
Three months into their marriage, Anwar knocked Fawziyah unconscious in a cemetery. Around the same time he put a pillow over her head and punched her in the head and took £12,000 from her bank account while she slept.
Fawziyah began to confide in her mother about the abuse she was experiencing. She planned to leave Anwar, though was looking to recover the money he stole from her.
Ms Javed told the court: “The accused was being abusive, controlling, manipulative, aggressive and violent towards her. She didn’t want to stay in a marriage like that, she wanted to leave.”
Fawziyah began to seek a divorce and during Anwar’s trial, the court was played recordings of phone conversations between Fawziyah and a legal firm on the matter.
It was an attempt to “get the ball rolling” on the divorce, but Anwar had told his wife that she would never be allowed to divorce him.
In an interview with BBC Newsnight[4], Ms Javed said: “He used to say to Fawziyah, we don’t have divorces in our family, we don’t divorce, we stay in marriages, no matter what.”
Ms Javed established a code with her daughter in an attempt to help keep her safe[5] after noticing Anwar’s behaviour, which included the man monitoring her calls and texts.
Ms Javed shared: “I said if you feel that you are in danger, just text me ‘I like cream cakes’, and I will contact the police.”
Fawziyah Javed collected evidence of her abuse
Described by her mother as a “very intelligent, articulate, strong-minded, very-educated young woman”, Fawziyah recognised that she was being abused and began to build a case against Kashif Anwar.
She began secretly recording their interactions.
In one recording which was played in court, Fawziyah can be heard saying: “You’ve ruined my life.”
Anwar then replied[6]: “I’ll tell you one thing. You end this and I will ruin yours.”
In another clip which was played for the court, Anwar tells her: “Don’t challenge me, do not be that British woman.”
Fawziyah went to the police twice[7] about her husband to make sure that there was a record of Anwar’s behaviour, though she didn’t want them to step in at that point.
Fawziyah Javed collected evidence which helped to convict her husband of murdering her.
The second report was made just days before Anwar killed her, while the couple were in Edinburgh on holiday.
By September 2021, Fawziyah had made a plan to leave Anwar. She was around 17-weeks pregnant at the time.
A month earlier Fawziyah had been in hospital, where Anwar was overheard telling her that if she died in childbirth that “would be ok” because he would be free of her.
A woman in the bed over[8] from her told the court: “I could hear him repeatedly call her a bitch, repeatedly saying he should never have married her, wishing he never married her, and if one of them died during childbirth that would be good because they would be free from one another.”
Despite deciding to leave her husband[9], Ms Javed told filmmakers that Fawziyah delayed the plan. Looking to cause minimal disruption, she would attend the Walima, a Muslim wedding event, Anwar’s parents had arranged for the couple and instead leave him following their trip to Edinburgh.
Ms Javed described the plan: “Fawziyah was all about putting other people first and she wanted to cause as minimal damage as possible – she said ‘Let me get this over and done with and then I’m going to leave him’. After the party they were going to Edinburgh on a break. I didn’t want Fawziyah to go to Edinburgh but she was adamant. She said, ‘In five days time I’ll be back home for good.’
“The plan was they were coming back on the Saturday, which was Fawziyah’s birthday; she was going to say to him ‘I’m going to go home because my mum’s got some presents for me’ and then she wasn’t going to go back.”
Unfortunately, Fawziyah was killed before she could leave her husband.
What happened to Fawziyah Javed?
On September 2, 2021 the couple went on a walk around Edinburgh. The documentary shows how their path was traced through CCTV footage.
They can be seen walking[10] from Wagamama in St Andrew’s Square where they had lunch, before being spotted at Edinburgh Waverley Railway station, down Canongate and past the Scottish Parliament, which is next to Holyrood Park where Arthur’s Seat is located.
The footage shows them to be walking close to one another, arm-in-arm[11].
Kashif Anwar and Fawziyah Javed captured by CCTV at Waverley Steps on their way to Arthur’s Seat.
Ahead of the trip, Fawziyah’s friend Lubna Qasim told the court how Anwar was “really keen on visiting Arthur’s Seat”.
She described how Fawziyah looked her in the eyes and said: “I’m not so sure.”
Ms Qasim knew that her friend was terrified of heights[12] following a trip to Barcelona where they rode a cable car.
Despite his wife’s fear, the couple climbed Arthur’s Seat at around 7.30 pm with the intention of watching the sunset.
After arriving too late the pair decided to walk back down, stopping to take a selfie on a rocky outcrop at around 8.30pm.
It was the last photo[13] to be taken of Fawziyah Javed alive.
Shortly afterwards, she was pushed over the edge.
Her head was visibly injured but she was able to speak for a short amount of time while she lay dying.
The fall area of Fawziyah Javed on Arthur’s Seat.
Hillwalker Daniyah Rafique found Fawziyah after being approached by her husband who she described as “panicked”. He told Ms Rafique that his wife had fallen and that he couldn’t find her.
Ms Rafique told the court the first thing Fawziyah asked was: “Am I going to be okay? Is my baby going to be okay?”
She described reassuring the woman[14], and telling her that emergency services were on the way. At that point, Fawziyah told Ms Rafique “don’t let my husband near me, he pushed me”.
It was then that police officer PC Rhiannon Clutton arrived.
In court Ms Clutton said: “She was writhing in pain but she was able to speak to me when I asked her questions.”
She shared[15] that she had contacted the police about Anwar in the past, and repeatedly asked: “Am I going to die? Is my baby going to die?”
Shortly after the arrival of the fire service, her condition deteriorated and she went into cardiac arrest.
Fawziyah Javed was pronounced dead at the scene at 10.18pm on September 2.
Assistant Coroner John Hobson gave her cause of death[16] as complications of multiple injuries after a fall from height.
What led to Kashif Anwar’s conviction?
Shortly afterwards Kashif Anwar was arrested for murder.
After pushing Fawziyah, he approached others on Arthur’s Seat for help to find his wife and call emergency services.
When calling 999, Anwar tells an operator that his wife slipped on the hill and that he had tried to save her.
He said[17]: “Fawziyah’s just on the edge of the cliff, man. We both just slipped, I tried grabbing her arm and she fell.
“We both technically slipped and then I tried grabbing her arm and she went sideways.”
However, Anwar’s lies over the death of his wife were unravelled in court thanks to the evidence which Fawziyah had been gathering.
Kashif Anwar was found guilty of the murder of Fawziyah Javed and her unborn child after a six-day trial at the High Court in Edinburgh. (Photo: Police Scotland)
Anwar was arrested and taken into custody at around 12.45am on September 3, where PC Sean Henderson told him of her death.
Mr Henderson said: “There wasn’t much of a reaction, in my opinion, he didn’t say much to it and didn’t have any obvious physical reaction.”
He added: “From start to near finish, he was very calm and composed throughout. I was actually struck how calm his demeanour was throughout.”
The Detective also shared that he asked what Edinburgh prisons were like.
After a week-long trial at the High Court in Edinburgh, Kashif Anwar was found guilty of murdering Fawziyah Javed and causing the death of her unborn child.
Where is Kashif Anwar now?
Judge Lord Beckett imposed a mandatory life sentence on Anwar, with a minimum imprisonment period of 20 years
Sentencing Anwar, he told him[18]: “She was willing to trust that you would keep her safe when she agreed to accompany you on your project to climb Arthur’s Seat despite a fear of heights and being pregnant.
“She was entitled to expect your protection and support.”
Lord Beckett added: “As a result of your actions, Fawziyah Javed died far from home on a Scottish hillside and her loving family are left devastated and will never be the same again. Had she lived she would have given birth to your child some months later, but that life was also extinguished by you.”
Lead prosecutor Alex Prentice KC said it would have been[19] “very difficult” to find Anwar guilty without the evidence provided by Fawziyah Javed.
He said: “The evidence of what Fawziyah said was crucial. It was effectively Fawziyah speaking to the jury. I have prosecuted many murder cases over the course of my career but for a variety of reasons this case is extraordinary.”
A friend of Fawziyah, referred to only as Ingrid, told the court: “She built this massive mountain of evidence culminating with giving a statement to the police on the verge of her dying. The fact she was a lawyer with all the legal training, I do think she must have thought about leaving this evidence behind. I remember feeling like she died like a lawyer.”
Ms Javed said: “Domestic abusers will continue to get away with murder if we don’t ensure the cases of so-called fallen women are rigorously investigated by authorities.
“We must have a system that delivers justice for these women.
“The conviction will never heal the grief of losing our beautiful Fawziyah, but we are campaigning to ensure that all those who murder women in this way are held to account.”
Where to watch The Push: Murder on the Cliff
The second part of The Push: Murder on the Cliff can be watched on Channel 4 on Monday, March 4 at 9pm.
Both episodes are available to stream now via Channel 4[20].
References
- ^ Scottish High Court (www.scotsman.com)
- ^ Edinburgh (www.scotsman.com)
- ^ well-educated young woman (www.fawziyahjavedfoundation.org)
- ^ with BBC Newsnight (www.youtube.com)
- ^ an attempt to help keep her safe (www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com)
- ^ then replied (www.bbc.co.uk)
- ^ went to the police twice (www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com)
- ^ woman in the bed over (www.theguardian.com)
- ^ leave her husband (www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com)
- ^ seen walking (www.scotsman.com)
- ^ arm-in-arm (www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com)
- ^ terrified of heights (www.scotsman.com)
- ^ last photo (www.bbc.co.uk)
- ^ reassuring the woman (www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com)
- ^ She shared (www.scotsman.com)
- ^ gave her cause of death (www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com)
- ^ He said (www.bbc.co.uk)
- ^ he told him (www.scotsman.com)
- ^ said it would have been (www.mirror.co.uk)
- ^ Channel 4 (www.channel4.com)