Cousins jailed for bride's murder

Tafarak (left) helped Rafaqat Hussain flee to Pakistan

Two men who murdered their 21-year-old cousin on her wedding day have been jailed for life.

Cousins Tafarak Hussain and Rafaqat Hussain were found guilty of the murder of Sahjda Bibi, who was stabbed 22 times with a kitchen knife in the bedroom of her home in Birmingham on 11 January.

Tafarak Hussain, of Bordesley, Birmingham, was convicted for helping to organise the attack and Rafaqat Hussain, 38, a machine operator from Camberley in Surrey, had pleaded guilty to murder at an earlier hearing.

Both men were sentenced to life imprisonment at Birmingham Crown Court on Monday.

Organised escape

Addressing Rafaqat, Mr Justice Wakerley said on Monday: "You took the life of your young cousin on the threshold of her marriage."

Turning to Tafarak, the Judge added: "You, as the jury has found, gave assistance, knowing of the plan that she must be prevented from marrying her own choice."

Tafarak Hussain, 26, was convicted by the jury at Birmingham Crown Court on Wednesday on the basis that the killing could not have happened without him and that he helped to organise Rafaqat Hussain's escape.

The court had heard how Rafaqat Hussain travelled from his work in Camberley, Surrey, to Birmingham on 10 January, where the wedding was due to take place the following day.

It was a cowardly act by Rafaqat and Tafarak on a defenceless and harmless young girl on her wedding day. West Midlands Police spokesman

The jury was told that the cousins met the next morning and began finalising details of the killing.

Miss Bibi was attacked by Rafaqat Hussain minutes before the ceremony was due to start.

He told police after the killing that it had been accidental, but officers believed he was incensed that she intended to marry a divorcee.

Tafarak Hussain then helped his cousin to escape to Pakistan by driving him away from the murder scene and arranging for a taxi driver to ferry him to Heathrow Airport.

In a statement released by West Midlands Police on Wednesday, Sahjda Bibi's parents said: "There is no justification for attacking a member of our family, a girl of 21-years-old.

Sahjda Bibi was stabbed 22 times

"It was a cowardly act by Rafaqat and Tafarak on a defenceless and harmless young girl on her wedding day.

"We want to thank the police and the prosecution for bringing them to justice."

A West Midlands Police spokesman added: "The death has been called an honour killing - when a person is murdered because they have 'brought dishonour' upon their family.

"In Sahjda's case it seems she had simply fallen in love with the wrong man.

"Rafaqat appears to have been unable to accept this union and took it upon himself to prevent it taking place - at any cost."

Despite pleading guilty to murder at a hearing in September, Rafaqat Hussain told officers his cousin's death was an accident and has offered no other explanation for the killing.