Zahra Ghulami: Father murdered adopted two-year-old by ‘bashing her head against wall’

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A father took out his “bad temper” on his adopted two-year-old daughter, who died of serious head accidents after he “bashed her head against a wall”.

Jan Gholami, 33, has been discovered responsible of murdering Zahra Ghulami on the household’s Gravesend dwelling in May 2020, only one yr after the toddler left Afghanistan to come back and reside within the UK.

Jurors heard that Zahra had suffered a cranium fracture brought on by “significant impact with significant energy” and was pronounced useless in hospital two days later.

Gholami denied the accusations in addition to denying allegations of older accidents earlier than Zahra’s loss of life, together with that he banged her head against the wall and fractured her cranium on an earlier event.

Prosecutor Sally Howes KC stated: “Because this is what you do. You bang people’s heads against walls.

“Because you’ve done this before and Zahra had survived, you just walked away and went to Tesco.”

Despite Ghulami claiming that she had fallen down the steps, he was convicted of homicide and baby cruelty at Maidstone Crown Court. His spouse Roqia Ghulami, 32, was acquitted of homicide however discovered responsible of cruelty of an individual below 16 in a unanimous verdict.

Former farmer Gholami, initially from Afghanistan, informed jurors he went to the grocery store that morning and was knowledgeable upon his arrival dwelling that Zahra had fallen and was vomiting.

He claimed that he tried to name for an ambulance however as a result of he doesn’t converse English, he didn’t perceive their questions and as a substitute took a taxi to hospital.

He denied hurting his youngsters, saying he liked them.

The store employee beforehand stated: “If I would do such things I wouldn’t come to this country. There was a lot of violence in Afghanistan already.

“The reason I came to this country was for the welfare of my children.”

The woman’s reason behind loss of life was given as extreme head damage and cranium fracture by Professor Charles Mangham, an osteoarticular pathologist. During examinations, docs discovered proof of older accidents, which included a cranium fracture, and a therapeutic fracture to her arm and shoulder blade.

Jurors had been informed Gholami got here to the UK in January 2016 whereas his spouse Ghulami was nonetheless in Afghanistan with their youngsters.

The couple adopted Zahra in 2017 after a household good friend, Zahra’s father, felt unable to take care of her after his spouse died in childbirth.

This occured when Ghulami was in Afghanistan and the adoption was authorised by village elders.

In January 2019, Gholami utilized for asylum for his spouse from the UK, and he or she arrived with the youngsters to affix him.

Described as a “bright, intelligent” baby, Zahra was stated to have been“highly curious” and needed to seek out out about every thing over the course of her brief life.

The courtroom additionally heard proof of alleged home abuse by Gholami against Ghulami, with a neighbour claiming she noticed the killer punch his spouse within the face exterior their dwelling.

Ghulami had knowledgeable a police officer and a social employee that he would beat her, typically by slapping her or banging her head against a wall, and that she was scared he would kill her.

Gholami and Ghulami, of Oak Road, Gravesend, denied homicide, inflicting or permitting the loss of life of a kid and baby cruelty.

Judge Mr Justice Wall will sentence Gholami on February 16, and Ghulami at a date to be determined.

Senior investigating officer Detective Inspector Ross Gurden stated:”Zahra had her life taken away from her by two individuals who had a accountability to like and take care of her.

“Jan inflicted the injuries on Zahra whilst Roqia was completely aware of his behaviour and failed to intervene and prevent Zahra from being injured.

“Zahra would have been six now, she would have started school and would be learning about the world around her, but instead her young life was cut short through violence inflicted by Jan, who should have been caring for her.

“I want to commend the jury who were a part of this trial. Incidents like this are thankfully rare but they played a hugely important role in securing justice for the very people who betrayed Zahra.”