A young woman’s dreams of becoming a surgeon were cut short when her controlling husband killed her and their unborn child by submerging her in acid.
Arnima Hayat, 19, moved to Australia from Bangladesh with her family when she was nine-years-old and won a place studying medicine at Western Sydney University, reports The Mirror.
After meeting then-20-year-old Meraj Zafar, however, Arnima’s newfound love of sushi, iced coffee and makeup all fell by the wayside and her life was consumed by an ultimately deadly relationship.
The 19-year-old began to pull away from her family as the relationship progressed and when Zafar asked her father for her hand in marriage in May 2021, he was reluctant to agree.
Zafar, who reportedly tried to force Armina to drink alcohol, was abusive and swore at her dad Abu after he hesitated to approve the union – leading Arnima’s father to go to the police and take out a form of restraining order against him.
The couple married in a secret Islam ceremony with no friends or family in October 2021 and moved into a flat in the Sydney suburb of North Parramatta.
By the following January, Arnima was pregnant and had confided in friends that her husband was abusive and controlling. She would reportedly have to ask for permission to leave the house and she said he had once strangled her until she was unconscious after thinking she had been with another man.
The 19-year-old even considered going to the police but said she was afraid about what Zafar might do.
Her chilling last text to a friend on January 29, 2022 was: “No, I hate him,” in response to their suggestion that she had no choice and had to stay with her husband.
On January 30, Zafar’s mother called the police after he told her the couple had been in a fight and he wasn’t sure if she was still breathing.
Police broke into the flat, where a strong chemical smell was coming from the bathroom. Upon investigation, they found a bathtub filled with hydrochloric acid and a badly decomposed body lying face down inside it.
The decomposition was so severe that DNA tests had to be done to confirm that it was Arnima’s body. After around 20 hours on the run, Zafar handed himself in to authorities.
Detectives concluded that the 19-year-old had been killed just 45 minutes after sending a final message to her friend. Harrowing CCTV footage showed the killer driving his truck to a home improvement store and buying 20 litres of hydrochloric acid, before returning for another 80 litres.
His internet history also revealed that he had searched “Can hydrochloric acid burn through skin?” several times and had researched how long the prison sentence was in Sydney for murder.
He pleaded guilty to murdering his wife by “obstructing her breathing or smothering her” in May 2024, before dissolving her body in a tub of acid.
Zafar told the court that he took full responsibility for Arnima’s death, describing it as “the most terrible thing to do to someone else”, but the judge noted that he only referred to the 19-year-old as “his wife”, suggesting the extent to which he felt ownership over her.
He was sentenced to 21 years and six months behind bars, with a non-parole period of 16 years.
Armina’s family spoke about their heartbreak after the sentencing last year. Her father said: “I miss my daughter every day and see her face in my dreams.
“He burned the face I used to kiss every night. Can you imagine someone burning your child?”
A statement written by her mother Mahafuza said she would give anything to see her daughter’s face again. “Instead, I sit by her grave every Friday, stroking the grass because I can no longer stroke her hair,” she said.
“I kiss and hug her tombstone, longing to hold and smell her.”