Wednesday, July 24, 2024 - An 11-year-old girl who died in hospital after collapsing in the bathroom at her family home was "punched in the heat of the moment" by her grown-up half-brother, but he will not face prosecution, an inquest heard.
Falaq Babar died on March 18, 2022, three weeks after
collapsing at her family home in Rochdale near Manchester.
Prosecutors considered a charge
of manslaughter against her half-brother Suhail Mohammed, but took no
further action.
An inquest into Falaq's death heard that
"complex medical evidence" lay behind the decision.
Falaq had been in the bathroom with her two younger siblings
when Mohammed "barged" in.
Mohammed said he used "quite a bit of force" to
open the door after hearing Falaq "screaming her head off".
The family had been preparing to travel to Bradford to pick
up clothes for a wedding.
He smashed the door open with so much force that he left a
hole in one panel and cracks on the inside.
On Tuesday, July 23, 2024, the inquest heard Mohammed
sent a series of chilling texts to his girlfriend Sahar Fiaz.
He wrote: "I've killed Falaq."
When Sahar asked what he meant, Mohammed added: "I’ve
punched her in the head."
Sahar asked: "What are you hitting her for?"
Mohammed said "IDEK", short for "I don't even
know", before adding that Falaq had done "zero" to provoke him.
He said Falaq was "screaming her head off" and was
being taken to hospital because she was "sick" and
"unconscious".
Mohammed claimed he "didn't know" he was going to
knock Falaq out and that it was "heat of the moment".
Sahar said: "In sh’ Allah (God willing) she’s OK."
Mohammed said: "In sha Allah."
Giving evidence previously, Mohammed had said he had opened
the door to find Falaq on the floor before helping her up.
Mohammed said the bathroom door had become "stuck"
and Falaq had been standing on the other side when he forced it open.
He said he dialled 999 after Falaq became unwell and started
going "in and out of consciousness".
Mohammed said he told the call handler his 11-year-old
sister had "slipped".
But analysis of the 999 call showed Mohammed telling family members to "pray to God".
He also urged his family not to "make a big deal"
out of the horror, adding: "Don’t tell, don’t disclose."
Cops launched a probe after Falaq was rushed to
hospital on February 20, 2022.
The 11-year-old died three weeks later on March 18 after
suffering a bleed to her brain.
Mohammed was arrested on suspicion of assault, answering no
comment in police interviews after making a statement.
He also declined to answer any questions from coroner Joanne
Kearsley about his text messages to Sahar.
Crime scene investigator Elizabeth Moss said she had opened
the bathroom door easily - despite Mohammed saying it was stuck.
Moss added there was no evidence the door had been bolted
shut.
DCI Stuart Round said he had "formed a suspicion"
that Falaq may have been assaulted.
He said the family had refused to let cops speak to Falaq's
younger siblings, whom he described as key witnesses.
The cop said he felt there was sufficient evidence for
the CPS to consider a charge of manslaughter against Mohammed.
But he said the CPS took no further action because of
"complex medical evidence" yet to be heard by the inquest.
DCI Round said the evidence weighed up whether an
"underlying" condition caused Falaq's collapse.
Coroner Kearsley said that there were three possibilities -
either Falaq had been punched, or she had been struck by the door, or she had
suffered a coincidental medical episode.
It comes after the inquest heard Falaq's grandmother Zabida
Bebi told cops either the girl or a door had been "punched".
She is alleged to have asked: "Who has hit her?"
But Bebi repeatedly told the inquest she "couldn't
remember" how she had heard about the punch.
She then said she had heard Falaq’s younger siblings talking
about it.
Falaq's mother Shazia Bi said she couldn’t recall any
conversation about a punch.
Shazia said she had been busy tending to Falaq, who had been
sick three times.
The inquest, scheduled for four days, continues.
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