"This was a pre-planned, brutal murder."
A 65-year-old British woman is being held in a Pakistani jail after she allegedly ordered her 30-year-old lover to murder her wealthy husband so they could start a new life together in England.
Yasmeen Kausar is accused of having her hotelier husband, Mohammad Farooq, killed by a handyman she had promised to bring back to the UK.
Earlier in April 2022, Ms Kausar was arrested and charged with hiring two men to kill Mr Farooq, her husband of more than 20 years.
Police believe the victim, from Headingley, Leeds, was strangled at the family’s Pakistan home in a town near Rawalpindi.
His body was then put in a car and driven to a rubbish dump approximately 27 miles away where the vehicle was set alight.
Mr Farooq’s body was found at the dump at Morgah on April 1, 2022.
He is believed to have gone to Pakistan following the death of his younger brother.
Ms Kausar, who followed him out of the UK, allegedly lured him to meet her on March 31 before he was strangled and killed by two men.
Pakistan-based lawyer Malik Shahnwar-Noon, representing Mr Farooq’s family, said Ms Kauser told the handyman her relationship with her husband had deteriorated.
Mr Shahnwar-Noon claims she plotted to kill Mr Farooq to gain access to his finances and property in Pakistan.
He said: “This was a pre-planned, brutal murder. Police have gathered a lot of evidence, CCTV footage and have them remanded in jail.
“Mr Farooq’s wife elicited a relationship with a maintenance worker at their home. They developed a relationship and she planned the murder with him.
“She wanted money and property in Pakistan. They strangled Mr Farooq and they set fire to the dead body, the body was found in the burnt car.
“She called Mr Farooq and asked him to come to her home. He left his home at 5 o’clock and when he was driving he was on the phone to Yasmeen.
“As soon as he entered the home, he was strangled with a bedsheet.
“When he was near to death they put his body in the car and set the fire.”
Saying Mr Farooq’s three daughters and two sons were left devastated, Mr Shahnwar-Noon added:
“Mr Farooq was a very kind person who was loved by all his friends and family, it is a very difficult time for everyone.
“The family is very upset, it is obviously a very big incident and has caused a big trauma.”
Police suspected Ms Kausar was having an affair with the worker and “was in constant contact with him” prior to the murder.
Ms Kausar denies plotting her husband’s murder.
She is currently being held in a Pakistani prison as she awaits trial. A hearing is expected to take place on April 30.
The Foreign Office is in contact with local authorities about the detention of a British woman.
A spokesperson said: “We are in contact with the local authorities in Pakistan following the death of a British man and are providing consular support to his family.”
Mr Farooq and Ms Kausar are believed to hold British and Pakistani passports and have a sprawling £1.5 million home in Leeds.
Mr Farooq is the director of a British property firm and has other interests including a hotel in Leeds and one in Rawalpindi in Pakistan which is owned by his family.
A friend of Mr Farooq’s family paid tribute: “He was a very nice, very humble person.
“He was a great guy and a great human being. He did a lot for charity, he was very kind, considerate and humble.
“He was always joking, he was full of life and had a great sense of humour.
“To be murdered in such a brutal way is just terrible.”
“It hurts so much that he’s been taken away in this way.
“She promised him a new life in England and said if you do this for me, I will give you a new life in England.”
Ms Kausar’s son, Sajid Bashir, has launched a petition calling on the British government to request her release.
He wrote: “We are requesting that everybody signs this petition on behalf of my mother Yasmin Kausar.
“My mum is 65 years of age and suffers from Type 2 Diabetes and Hypertension.
“She is currently being held in a prison in Pakistan.
“My mother is being falsely accused of the murder of her husband Mohammed Farooq Hussain.
“We are just requesting that the British government contact the relevant authorities in Pakistan and that they just check on her physical and mental health and that she is being afforded her legal and human rights.
“Her legal representative have informed us, the courts and the British embassy in Pakistan of the physical and mental abuse she has had to endure.
“We are obviously very concerned with what we are hearing as to her treatment so far.
“We are not requesting that we should interfere with the legal process in another country, just that the relevant parties in this country can make inquiries to make sure she is being afforded her legal and human rights and is not being mistreated in any way.
“She is clearly a vulnerable person and who is isolated from her immediate family.”
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