How Could You? Hall of Shame-UK- Zahra Ghulami case-Child Death UPDATED

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Kent, UK, adoptive parents Roqia Ghulami, 31, and her partner Jan Gholami, 32, “are currently on trial accused of murdering the toddler.  Zahra [2, died in the spring 2020 after being admitted to hospital with serious injuries to her head.], was brought to Kent from Afghanistan months after the death of her birth mother.

Prosecutors say adoptive father Gholami is responsible for Zahra’s death. Both parents deny murdering their adopted daughter.

Gholami told jurors he had taken another child to a Tesco Express store near their home in Gravesend, Kent, leaving Zahra alone with her adoptive mother.

He claimed that, after returning home, Zahra was discovered with injuries, with his wife claiming she had fallen down the stairs.

Zahra was admitted to the A&E department of Darent Valley Hospital on May 27, 2020, but died two days later.

Gholami was arrested on the same day he brought Zahra to hospital, and asked police: ‘Why are they taking me to a police station? What have I done? I have enough worries. My child is in a coma.

‘I don’t know anything about what happened to the child because I was not at home. I was at Tesco. I don’t know what happened.’

In a statement to police, his wife said: ‘When I crawled to the door I saw that she had fallen down the stairs… maybe she has hit her head by the heater or by the door.’

She told police that after crawling down the stairs she hugged Zahra who then ‘began vomiting’.

Jurors were shown a photograph of Zahra as well as her adoption certificate dated July 15, 2017, which had been approved by elders in Afghanistan following the death of her biological mother.

Gholami claimed that Zahra’s real father was his friend and that he was in the UK when her adoption took place.

At the end of January 2018, Gholami was granted leave to remain in the UK after first arriving in 2016 and telling immigration officials the family was fleeing the Taliban.

He also claimed he was leaving because his wife’s family disapproved of their marriage, which was deemed ‘illegal’ and carried a penalty of stoning.

A year later wife Ghulami applied for asylum in the UK.

She was interviewed in January 2019 and told officials from the Home Office that she had three children, including Zahra.

She was helped by the Red Cross, which funded her travel to the UK under a ‘reunion visa’ scheme, and arrived in May 2019.

The jury heard how the charity then made a request for support to Kent County Council.

In February 2020, the family moved to another home in Gravesend just a few weeks before Zahra died.

Prosecutors allege Gholami inflicted fatal injuries found to the back of Zahra’s head.

‘It is the prosecution’s case that he had inflicted those fatal injuries before he left for his shopping trip,’ Sally Howes KC told the court.

‘It was noted immediately by hospital staff she was floppy and unresponsive and her breathing was shallow.

‘Her heart rate was slow and her blood pressure high. She had a large swelling to the back of her head.

‘He told doctors that Zahra had injured herself in an unwitnessed fall down the stairs at home while he was away at a local Tesco.

‘The Crown suggest that the preponderance, the weight of the evidence, points very strongly towards Jan Gholami as being the person responsible for inflicting this series of escalating violence upon Zahra.’

Ms Howes said CT scans revealed a number of suspicious, previously inflicted injuries to Zahra’s shoulder and head.

‘[She had] not just the catastrophic injury which had led to her death, but a number of earlier injuries [as well],’ she said.

Ms Howes added that doctors at London’s Kings College Hospital operated on the child but that the brain injury she had sustained was ‘unsurvivable’ and she died two days after being admitted.

The court heard that Gholami had been ‘keen’ to show the receipt from his Tesco shop both to doctors at Darent Valley Hospital in Kent and to police following his arrest.

After producing his shopping receipt to police, Gholami added: ‘I am a Muslim. You can’t blame me for these things. There are cameras. Whatever happened I was not at home.’

A paediatric consultant at Darent Valley’s A&E department told the court how Gholami had been ‘keen to show’ them the receipt as doctors were dealing with her injuries.

The two-year-old was at the hospital for two hours before being taken to King’s College Hospital in London.

Dr Ali Bokhari told the court: ‘When I arrived Zahra was on the couch surrounded by nurses and doctors and her breathing was stopping and starting.

‘She was lying on a bed with a blood stain on a tissue. I felt Zahra’s head and noticed there was a big swelling to the back of her head.’

Dr Bokhari said that he spoke ‘one-to-one’ with Gholami, though the latter’s English wasn’t good, who told him his wife had called him whilst he was at the shops saying Zahra had suffered a ‘fall’.

Ms Howes quoted one medical expert as saying in his statement: ‘In my opinion, this is the sort of injury which results from direct impact such as being thrown to the floor, forcibly dashed up against a wall or some other upright structure.’

In a prepared police statement taken the day after his arrest, Gholami said: ‘I have never caused any physical harm to Zahra. Yesterday I went shopping in Tesco.

‘Zahra was not conscious. My wife told me that Zahra had fallen down the stairs and hit her head. I was not aware of any previous injury to her head.’

Describing Zhara, Gholami added: ‘[She was] a happy child… playful [and] not naughty. She was a curious child.’

The couple also deny causing or allowing the death of a child and child cruelty.

The trial continues.”

Toddler, two, ‘murdered by her adoptive parents in horrific attack during the first Covid lockdown’ after being brought to the UK from Afghanistan following death of her birth mother
[Daily Mail 11/23/23 By Gina Kalsi]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

Update:“A father took out his “bad temper” on his adopted two-year-old daughter, who was murdered after he bashed her head against a wall.

Jan Gholami, 33, has been found guilty of murdering Zahra Ghulami at the family’s Gravesend home in May 2020, just one year after the toddler left Afghanistan to come and live in the UK.”

Father murdered adopted two-year-old by ‘bashing her head against wall’
[Independent 1/9/24 by Holly Evans]

Update 2:“A father who murdered his two-year-old adopted daughter has been sentenced to life and must serve at least 23 years and six months behind bars.

Jan Gholami and his wife Roqia Ghulami have been on trial for the murder of Zahra Ghulami at their Gravesend home in May 2020.

During the nine-week trial, prosecutor Sally Howes KC said Zahra suffered a skull fracture caused by “significant impact with significant energy” at the hands of Gholami.

The girl was taken to hospital on 27 May 2020 and died two days later.”

“His wife Roqia Ghulami was acquitted of murder but was found guilty of child neglect and was jailed for two years.”

Gravesend father who killed adopted ‘bright, intelligent’ two-year-old girl jailed for life
[Itv 2/16/24 ]