An inquest into the double murder of a Solihull domestic abuse victim and her mother has found that multiple failings by West Midlands Police “materially contributed” to their deaths.
Raneem Oudeh and her mother, Khaola Saleem, were murdered by the estranged husband of Ms Oudeh, Janbaz Tarin, in August 2018, after his wife discovered his secret second family in Afghanistan.
Prior to her death, Ms Oudeh had reported violence, stalking, and threats to kill, with the enquiry hearing evidence of police call-outs to her address on seven separate occasions in the weeks leading up to the murders as well as calling 999 14 times to report incidents of domestic abuse.
However, Mr Tarin was not arrested nor investigated prior to stabbing both Ms Oudeh and her mother, something to which he admitted and was subsequently jailed for life with a minimum of 32 years in December 2018.
An inquest jury found failures by West Midlands Police to follow their own basic domestic violence policies and guidance over a five-month period, “empowering him to act with impunity” through failure to act and arrest Mr Tarin.
“The police failings in this case are absolutely terrifying,” said Harriet Wistrich, Director of the Centre for Women’s justice, continuing:
“The evidence heard demonstrated a failure by police officers to understand the dynamics of domestic abuse and honour-based violence and a wholesale failure to implement any laws, policies or protective powers they have which could have prevented these two deaths.”
Selen Cavcav of INQUEST added:
“If it wasn’t for this inquest and the absolute determination of the family to speak out, the horrifying failures by the West Midlands police would have never been revealed. It is beggar’s belief that in 2022, we are still examining police’s response to violence against women especially women from minoritized communities. What happened to Raneem and Khaola is unforgivable.”
