Zahra Ghulami: Parents jailed over toddler death
Jan Gholami violently attacked two-year-old Zahra in May 2020
A father has been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his adopted two-year-old daughter, who died after he "bashed her head against a wall" in Kent.
Jan Gholami and his wife Roqia Ghulami were on trial for the murder of Zahra Ghulami at their Gravesend home in May 2020.
Gholami, 33, of Oak Road, Gravesend was sentenced to a minimum term of 23 and a half years for the murder of Zahra Ghulami, 2, in May 2020 following a trial at Maidstone Crown Court.
Roqia Ghulami, 32, was cleared of murder but found guilty of cruelty of a person under 16 in a unanimous verdict.
She was sentenced to two years in prison.
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 May 27th, 2020 and died two days later.
Ms Howes accused the father-of-four of taking out his "bad temper" on her and bashing her head against a wall.
At Maidstone Crown Court, jurors convicted Gholami of murder in a majority verdict of 10 to two after deliberating for nearly 20 hours.
He was also found guilty unanimously of child cruelty.
Former farmer Gholami, originally from Afghanistan, told jurors he went to Tesco that morning and when he got home his son said Zahra had fallen down the stairs and was vomiting.
The 33-year-old denied hurting his children, saying he loved them.
Ghulami did not give evidence in court but told police Zahra fell down the stairs.
The girl's cause of death was given as severe head injury and skull fracture by Professor Charles Mangham, an osteoarticular pathologist.
The couple adopted Zahra in 2017 after Gholami's friend, Zahra's father, felt unable to look after her after his wife died in childbirth.
"bright, intelligent child"
Zahra was described as a "bright, intelligent" child who was "highly curious" and wanted to find out about everything.
Senior investigating officer Detective Inspector Ross Gurden of Kent Police said:
"Zahra had her life taken away from her by two people who had a responsibility to love and care for her.
"Jan inflicted the injuries on Zahra whilst Roqia was completely aware of his behaviour and failed to intervene and prevent Zahra from being injured.
"Zahra would have been six now, she would have started school and would be learning about the world around her, but instead her young life was cut short through violence inflicted by Jan, who should have been caring for her.
"I want to commend the jury who were a part of this trial. Incidents like this are thankfully rare but they played a hugely important role in securing justice for the very people who betrayed Zahra."