Pak family held guilty of killing 'possessed by djinn' pregnant wife in UK

London, July 10 (ANI): Four members of a Pakistani family living in Britain have been found guilty of killing a 21-year-old pregnant woman after they thought she possessed by evil spirits, a court has heard.

Following a 12-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court, Naila Mumtaz's husband, Mohammed Tauseef Mumtaz, 25, his parents, Zia Ul-Haq and Salma Aslam, both aged 51, and his brother-in-law, Hammad Hussan, 24, were all found guilty of killing her.

Tauseef, who was accused of smothering his six-months pregnant wife, claimed that Naila tried to strangle herself and may have been 'possessed' by an evil spirit.

He claimed his wife's death was 'like a suicide' and that he had been 'similarly possessed' at the city's coroner's court after her death, The Daily Mail reports.

Wendy Bounds, a lawyer from the West Midlands Crown Prosecution Service complex casework unit, said that Naila, who used to live in Pakistan with her parents, agreed to enter into an arranged marriage with the defendant.

"She was aware that he suffered from a physical disability, but she was not put off by his appearance, taking the kind-hearted view that all living things had the same value," the paper quoted Bounds, as saying.

"However, the jury today found that her husband and his family did not share her values. Naila was six months pregnant and living with the defendants in Birmingham when on 8 July 2009 the family made a 999 call for an ambulance to attend," he said.

"All efforts to revive her by the paramedics and at the hospital failed, and she and her unborn baby died," he added.

According to the paper, all four defendants denied murdering Naila at her home in Birmingham. (ANI)