An inquest jury revealed that the murders of 22-year-old Raneem Oudeh and her mother, Khaola Saleem came as West Midlands Police failed to respond to multiple 999 Calls.
The murders of 22-year-old Raneem Oudeh and her mother, Khaola Saleem, occurred in August of 2018 on the driveway of Mrs Saleem’s home in Solihull. Ms Oudeh was calling West Midlands Police at the time of their murders, one of several 999 calls she had made to express her fear of her estranged husband, Janbaz Tarin.
The inquest heard testimony that in the weeks leading up to the murders, police were called to Ms Oudeh’s house seven times. The jury heard recordings of her calls to 999, in which she was urged to “go to your Mum’s, lock the door, and we will see you tomorrow.”
She had called the police to allege death threats, physical assault, and stalking, but Tarin was never arrested or investigated. She had left her husband weeks before he murdered her after learning that he already had three children with another woman and that the other woman was pregnant.
Ms Oudeh called 999 14 times in the months leading up to the stabbings to report incidents of domestic abuse, including threats to kill her and to stab her. Still, police did not appropriately log these reports, failed to follow up on them properly, and did not appropriately assess them, as was testified at the inquest.
During the inquest into the deaths of Raneem and Khaola, West Midlands Police confessed, “we should have done more,” and said the family’s dignity throughout “has been humbling.”
The Independent Office of Police Conduct found that “opportunities were missed” during their investigation. Ms Oudeh also revealed to her loved ones that Tarin had threatened her, stating, “if you leave me, I will kill you and your family.”
Neighbours said that she and Tarin had been falling out, so she moved back in with her mother and their two-year-old son from a previous relationship. Mrs Saleem was harassed and threatened by Tarin, who slept outside her home for 12 nights straight.
CCTV footage from a shisha club in Birmingham shows the murder suspect and victim arguing on the night of the murder in August of 2018. The video shows Ms Oudeh, who was with her mother at the time of the argument, making the first of four calls to the police that night.
Staff kicked Tarin out, but moments later, he drove by in his van, slashing his arms as if he were pointing a knife at Ms Oudeh. Afterwards, he drove to his father’s grocery and concealed a 12-inch steak knife in his belt. Surveillance cameras obtained footage of his van heading near Mrs Saleem’s Solihull home.
Ms Oudeh made her last phone call to the police that night at 12.26 am, letting them know she would be at the Solihull address. They called back ten minutes later to let her know that police will get in touch with her the next morning to discuss what had happened.
Screams of “he’s there, there, there” could be heard in the background of the call. Eventually, the line went silent, and both women were attacked frantically with knives and killed. Tarin evaded capture at the site, but he was caught after a massive manhunt several days later.
Kinaan Saleem, Ms Saleem’s 19-year-old daughter, who was babysitting Ms Oudeh’s son at the time of the murder, told Sky News, “I was just ready to go to bed until I heard screaming, loads of screaming.”
“I looked outside my window and I saw my mother already on the floor and my sister standing next to the perpetrator and he did his killing and dropped his knife and went to the van.”
At the time, Kinaan was just 14 years old.
Ms Oudeh’s aunt, Nour Norris, who is also Mrs Saleem’s sister, described the situation as being like “watching a horror movie in slow motion as we head to the inevitable conclusion.”
“It was devastating to us because we’d never heard those calls before. Raneem was very clear,” she told Sky News.
“We do blame the police because the proof of the inquest has shown very clear that the system is failing miserably,” she continued. “The death of my sister and my niece could have been prevented.”
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