At London’s Old Bailey, 62-year-old Zafar Iqbal was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 19 years for the brutal murder of his wife, Naziat Zafar, in August 2001. The killing occurred after Naziat began divorce proceedings. Iqbal strangled her with a scarf while three of their children watched in horror.
Iqbal fled the UK immediately after the murder. Following a 16-year manhunt involving the National Crime Agency, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and Pakistani authorities, he was finally arrested in Pakistan in 2017. He was extradited back to the UK in September 2021 to face justice.
Detective Chief Inspector Will White, who led the investigation, described the crime as “calculated and brutal.” He 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 just three years old at the time. The children had to live with the trauma of witnessing this horrific act, which has affected them deeply. Iqbal thought fleeing the UK would help him escape his crimes, but we never gave up tracking him down. Thanks to determined police and criminal justice partners, he will now spend most, if not all, of his life behind bars.”
In June 2000, Naziat started divorce papers; Iqbal moved out but was unhappy about the split. On August 20, 2001, two daughters returned home to find their father strangling their mother. Iqbal threatened the children with the same fate and forced one daughter to forge a fake note claiming their mother had gone to Manchester and would return in two days. He took the children to a family friend in Croydon, telling them their mother was in hospital. By morning, Iqbal had vanished. The eldest son found their mother dead at home; the cause of death was ligature strangulation.
Iqbal’s arrest and subsequent extradition ended a long, painful chapter for the family. Now, justice has finally been served on this savagely calculated killer.
Originally published by UKNIP.
