Sanam Navsarka murder trial: Toddler left alone to die

Jan 15 2009 By Andrew Jackson

zahbeena navsarka

When Navsarka was told of her daughter’s 107 injuries by police, she made no comment.

One of injuries included a severe nappy rash which the couple treated by spraying aftershave onto open and bleeding sores.

The trial continues.

A MOTHER accused of murdering her two-year-old daughter was described as "sweet and caring" by her best friend.

Witness Shereen Yacoobali told a jury at Bradford Crown Court that Zahbeena Navsarka did not have it in her heart to hurt toddler Sanam, who died on May 8 last year.

Navsarka stands accused of the tot’s murder, along with her partner Subhan Anwar, both from Riddings Road, Deighton.

Sanam died after fractures to both her thigh bones resulted in fatty deposits entering her bloodstream. She also had fractures to her arms.

During the second day of the trial at Bradford Crown Court yesterday(Jan 14), Ms Yacoobali, a mother-of-two, said she had trusted Navsarka.

But they drifted apart when Anwar came on the scene and "began to take over", just before Navsarka and Anwar moved from Batley to Deighton around April 1 last year.

She also recounted hearing Anwar threaten the toddler when she was being mischievous.

Ms Yacoobali told the court: "If Sanam was being naughty she (Navsarka) wouldn’t tell her off, she’d be really sweet and say ‘no don’t do that’ – they’d have a giggle together.

"She wouldn’t ever hit her, she hasn’t got it in her heart to do that.

"I saw a change in her (Navsarka) when that guy (Anwar) came along. She was quite distant afterwards."

Around two months before little Sanam died, Ms Yacoobali recounted a time when she heard Anwar threaten her.

"She was running in the hallway and I think she was trying to get into my bedroom.

"He was on my phone to the Job Centre about something and Zahbeena said, ‘Come here’ but Sanam was happily running about.

"He then said to her "I’ll lock you up in the cupboard, stop it".

"She stopped in fear and I can smell fear when I see it and I saw her scared and she ran quickly to her mum. I asked Zahbeena about the cupboard and she said "Oh, he locks her in the cupboard when we’re at home.

"I said ‘Why do you let him do that?’ And she said it was when Sanam was being naughty."

Ms Yacoobali had known Navsarka since they were teenagers. They became close when she moved into a flat opposite, when Navsarka became pregnant and ran away from her family.

She changed her name from Zaman to Navsarka, the name she wrongly thought was Sanam’s estranged father’s surname.

Ms Yacoobali helped to deliver little Sanam when Navsarka went into labour at her flat at Howley Walk, Batley. She was among the first to hold the baby.

The two women continued to be close during the first two years of Sanam’s life, often looking after each other’s children and sharing motherly advice.

But by March 2008, when Navsarka met Anwar, she said they became more distant.

They couple had met at a mobile phone shop in Batley and Anwar asked for her number.

A few weeks later he had moved into her flat and Ms Yacoobali said she believed Anwar had a control over Navsarka.

Anwar was married at the time and his wife was pregnant, though it was some weeks before he told Navsarka about it.

Navsarka and Anwar then moved into their Deighton home with little Sanam, where it is alleged she was locked in a cupboard and suffered bruising and cuts to her body over a period of time.

The trial continues.