Inquest investigates Numan Haider’s death
THE man who was shot dead by police allegedly “snapped” days before he brutally stabbed two officers at Endeavour Hills.
NUMAN Haider snapped because he was being “bashed” by his family and his “wife” cheated on him, an inquest has heard.
The Victorian coroner is investigating the circumstances that surround the death of terror suspect Numan Haider, who brutally stabbed two police officers outside the Endeavour Hills station on September 23 2014.
He was fatally shot with a single bullet.
Yesterday his friend Ljindim Sulejmani took the stand, a man who frequented the radical mosque, Al-Furqan.
The inquest also heard from Haider’s ex-fiancee, Jinaali Vishni Surendran, 18, who broke up with Haider two months before he attacked police.
She told the court they had participated in a formal ceremony indicating they intended to marry but the arrangement ended when Haider said to her “I divorce you”.
Days before his death, Haider travelled with his friend, Mr Sulejmani, to Sydney on September 12, and bought back a book.
On September 18 after returning to Melbourne, Haider then waved an Islamic flag at police at a Melbourne shopping centre and said they would “pay” for counter terror raids in Sydney and Brisbane.
Later that day, he asked his ex-fiancee, Ms Surendran, to burn the book he bought back from Sydney.
“It was orange and had an Islamic man on the cover,” she told the court.
“I believe he gave it to me for safe keeping, not to read.”
She said Haider had “seemed all right” but wasn’t his normal self that day.
When Mr Sulejmani took the stand he spoke of how Haider snapped, claiming he was bashed by his family and his wife was cheating on him.
He also told the inquest the woman Haider “married” threatened to tell authorities he was planning to go to Syria to fight.
Ms Surendran burst into tears and said “I can’t believe that” when she was asked about the alleged cheating.
She also said she had no reason to believe Haider’s family was violent towards him and he never suggested it to her.
Mr Sulejmani said Haider also “snapped” because his passport had been cancelled and he was being hounded by law enforcement agencies.
The inquest heard the family didn’t want their son spending time with Mr Sulejmani, who was several years older than Haider.
Mr Sulejmani said Haider’s mother had told him: “stay away from my son”, and spat on him during an encounter in 2014.
The inquest heard Mr Sulejmani was one of the last people to see Haider alive.
Mr Sulejmani said Haider was a peaceful person and described an incident in which Haider accidentally stabbed a friend in the hand with a knife as “funny”.
“They were just mucking around,” Mr Sulejmani told the inquest.
The inquest continues.