Accused wife killer dies in jail, denying justice for family

A “MONSTER” accused of killing his wife in her Hampton Park home, while their daughter was nearby, has died while on remand in jail, robbing her family of justice.

A “MONSTER” accused of killing his wife, while their daughter, 6, was nearby, has died while on remand in jail, robbing her family of justice.

Fatima Batool was slain at her home in Redwood Avenue, Hampton Park, on July 7.

She was one of two women in Melbourne killed that day in what police say were family ­violence homicides.

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Just last week, six women were murdered nationwide. Men have been charged with all but one of the killings, which remained unsolved.

Hampton Park mother Fatima Batool was killed in July.

Ms Batool’s husband, Dr Muhammad Jaffar Hassan, 45, was found dead in his cell at the maximum-security Metropolitan Remand Centre on Tuesday morning. There are no suspicions that anyone else was involved in his death.

He had been due back in court next month. An earlier hearing had been told he ­informed an emergency call-taker he’d murdered his wife.

A neighbour had seen him flying a kite with the couple’s daughter outside their home the day before the killing.

The neighbour told the Herald Sun Ms Batool had led an isolated life. She had been seen outside the house only a few times, and appeared to be a “prisoner in her own home”.

”We never heard a raised voice from their home,” he said. “I only ever saw her walking with her daughter a few times. No one ever visited.”

Ms Batool’s family, who described her as an “innocent soul”, had vowed to “fight for justice” for her.

Her sister, Saima Ali Qasemi, said: “Every breath we take becomes harder and harder with the realisation that we will have to live without seeing your prettiest face or hearing your gentle voice again.”

She said her sister lived in fear of her “abusive husband”.

“The biggest tragedy is that you were not the first or the last victim of domestic violence. Thousands of women like you are killed by monsters like your husband every year.”

Ms Batool’s entire family live in Pakistan, and she had told a friend, Sidra Jutt, that her husband did not like her using social media, so she had limited interactions.

“The Pakistani community is really sad and want justice for her,” Ms Jutt said.

An inquest is expected.

On the same day Ms Batool died, mother of three Amanda Harris, 36, was also killed, in the neighbouring suburb of Cranbourne North. Her stabbed and burnt body was found in her home, which had been set alight hours earlier.

Mother of three Amanda Harris was killed in her home in Cranbourne North

A search for her children found them at a Berwick home with her partner, Daniel ­Eckersley, 38. He was later charged with her murder.

He is yet to enter a plea and is due in court on November 8.

The White Ribbon Foundation says that, nationwide, on average, one woman is killed each week by a current or former partner. Nationally, six women were discovered dead from October 3 to 6.

Mum Dannyll Goodsell’s badly injured body was discovered by emergency crews as they responded to a fire at her Mount Pleasant unit on October 5.

Destroy the Joint, a campaign documenting domestic violence deaths, has reported that so far this year 52 women have died, allegedly at the hands of men.

In August, Victoria Police vowed to review its handling of domestic violence homicides in an attempt to try to reduce the number of them.

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