Identified only as Sohail A because of German privacy law, he is on trial in Hamburg where it was revealed he had worked illegally in a fast food restaurant.
He arrived in Germany in 2011 but fled the city after allegedly killing his two-year-old daughter, Aeysha. However, prosecutors do not believe his version of events and say that he acted out of ‘anger and revenge’ against his wife Lubna, 32. He was eventually tracked down to norther Spain where he was arrested at a friend’s house after filing for a new Pakistani passport to return to his home country.
In a dramatic twist in the court case he confessed to the crime saying ‘shoot me, I killed my daughter’. Court papers reveal that he killed his daughter ‘by almost completely separating the child’s head from her body’.
Sohail A said he acted out of despair as ‘everything around me collapsed’. According to the indictment, Sohail A was upset because Lubna did not want to leave her daughter alone with him in Pakistan. Sohail A also reportedly wanted to punish his wife after she reported him to the police for domestic abuse and threats.
Papers reveal domestic abuse that became increasingly violent against Lubna as his chances of being given asylum grew ever more slim According to the indictment, Sohail A tried to choke Lubna’s five-year-old child from a previous relationship in September 2016.
Even though Lubna filed a criminal complaint, it did not deter the Pakistani asylum seeker. A month later, Sohail A allegedly beat up Lubna, who again filed a criminal charge against her husband. A police investigator said that the violence against Lubna was so bad ‘that it could have ended fatally.’
In October 2017, Sohail A threatened he would kill his wife and son, after which Lubna again filed a criminal complaint. According to child protection services there was however ‘no sign the situation would worsen.’
The day after Sohail A’s final asylum application was rejected he is said to have attacked Lubna at their home in Hamburg. She had already said that she wanted a divorce and fled the house. Out of fear, Lubna fled to her parents and alerted the police, but Sohail did not allow her to take little Aeysha with her.
He then allegedly slit his daughter’s throat while his wife was filing yet another criminal complaint for domestic violence at a police station. The mother was treated in hospital for shock after the incident, and is being cared for by her parents and her sister, and she reportedly has fallen into depression. She rarely leaves her bedroom. On Friday, Lubna will testify in court through a video conferencing facility so she does not have to look Sohail A in the eyes again. Sohail A is facing life in prison if found guilty of murder. The trial is continuing.
Source: Metro
