A woman called Sabina Akhtar came from Bangladesh to this country in 2003. She and her husband had an arranged marriage in Bangladesh and Sabina joined her husband in the UK two years later, when she was pregnant with their son, who is now three. On Friday, her husband was sentenced to 17 years in jail for killing her.

He had attacked her 25 times and made repeated threats to kill her. In July he told his wife, Sabina, to prepare for death by reading passages from the Qur’an before warning: “I am going to get a knife and when I return I am going to slaughter you”. A few days later, he stabbed her through the heart.

The inept dealing of this case by the CPS and police – who failed to treat the complaint seriously saying that she was too confused and there were language difficulties – probably resulted in the death of this young woman. The CPS has apologised to the family but the Independent Police Complaints Commission has dropped its investigation of the police handling of this case.

The organisation Refuge is calling on the government to conduct a homicide review. They also believe that the authorities should be sued under the Human Right’s legislation and any damages that might be paid should be used to support Sabina’s 3 year old son. In addition, Refuge hope that such a case would put pressure on the government and the legal system to respond appropriately in future.

Sandra Horley, Refuge’s CEO, said, “In my 30 years of running Refuge, this is one of the most shocking cases I have ever come across. To say we are outraged is an understatement. Sabina Akhtar came to the Police desperate for help and fearing for her life. She was living with an extremely violent and dangerous man and it took incredible courage for her even to come forward. She was isolated, with no friends and family to turn to and the legal system let her down. Domestic killings are predictable and preventable and victims of domestic violence are more likely than any other victims of crime to experience repeat attacks. Years of evidence and research show that abused women are most at risk at the point of separation. The police and CPS should have known this and recognised that Sabina was in incredible danger. They had a duty to protect her and should have acted quickly and decisively to ensure her safety. To not treat her complaint seriously on the grounds that she was too confused and had language difficulties is simply not good enough. Sabina has lost her life and her son has lost his mother – let’s hope that Sabina does not just become another statistic and that the public will stand up and make sure she hasn’t died in vain. We all need to speak out for the dead to protect the living”.

I totally agree!