A domestic violence victim who was stabbed to death by her former partner felt too scared to tell police the full extent of his abuse over fears that social services would take her baby away, an inquest has heard.
Raneem Oudeh, 22, was killed along with her mother, Khaola Saleem, 49, in Solihull in August 2018 by Janbaz Tarin, who had subjected Oudeh to a campaign of abuse and stalking in the run-up to the attack.
The inquest heard Tarin once carved Oudeh’s name into his arm with a razor and would spend days sleeping in his car outside her house.
At the inquest to determine the role of authorities in the run-up to the killings, Oudeh’s aunt Nour Norris said her niece called the police at least seven times to report Tarin’s violent behaviour, but felt “they didn’t really listen to her properly and didn’t take her seriously”.
“They’ll say to her: ‘You’re wasting our time, you need to deal with him yourself, kick him out – you can’t call us all the time. Ask him to move out,’” she told Birmingham coroner’s court on Monday.
“I didn’t think they really understood what she was saying. She could speak good English, she could explain herself very well, but they told her it was a personal matter and she should sort it out herself.”
Police were called to the property the couple shared with Oudeh’s son from a previous relationship due to reports of violence and social services became involved. Norris said Oudeh was scared of telling police the full extent of Tarin’s violent behaviour over fears that her child would be taken into care.
“She was concerned about her baby. After having the police round, the social workers would come in,” she said. “She felt they were attacking her, told her she was putting her child in danger, and that she should keep him [Tarin] out the house. She wanted to cooperate with social workers but was too scared that if she tells them everything, they will take her baby away.”
Oudeh came to the UK in 2014 from Syria to escape war and join her mother. After befriending Oudeh at Solihull college, Tarin began “stalking and hassling her”, and she married another man in 2015, partly due to fears over her safety as a result of Tarin’s harassment.
The marriage broke down and Oudeh brought up their son alone. By the summer of 2016, she was “down, upset – a single mum at the age of 20”, and still being “stalked” by Tarin, Norris said.
Tarin harassed and frightened Oudeh into a relationship and the couple had an Islamic marriage ceremony in April 2017, Norris said.
Oudeh told her family that hours after the marriage, Tarin said to her: “We don’t have divorce in our culture. The day that you will be free from me is the day I will kill you.”
She attempted to leave him multiple times. A recording of a 999 call by Oudeh in April 2018 was played in court, in which she said: “I’m a lone parent, and he is always forcing me to stay with him. He says: ‘I will kill you if you leave me.’
“He’s tried to hurt me many times, like stabbing me with things. He is standing outside my door, he has my bank card. I just want someone to come and tell him to move from my house and never come again. He won’t leave me alone.”
On 27 August 2018, Oudeh and her mother had gone to a shisha bar where Tarin accosted them and slapped Saleem. They rang the police but their response was delayed because of a firearms incident in the city, the inquest heard.
The pair then returned to Saleem’s address in Solihull where Tarin stabbed them both to death. He was convicted of the double murder and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 32 years after a trial in 2018.
In a tribute from family at the start of the inquest, Oudeh was described as “a flower that never stopped blossoming. She was passionate, ambitious and her confidence always stood out.”
Family members said Saleem was “the definition of peace” and “full of love, care and sweetness”.
