THE FAMILY of a mother and daughter who were murdered in a brutal knife attack outside a Solihull home have spoken out.
Raneem Oudeh, 22, who had a two year old son, and and her mother Khaola Saleem, 49, were repeatedly stabbed and killed in Northdown Road, Solihull on August 27.
On Monday (December 17) Janbaz Tarin, who was married to Raneem under Islamic law pleaded guilty to two counts of murder at Birmingham Crown Court.
Following the hearing family members spoke out against the police for not doing enough to protect Raneem and Khaolar from their killer.
Nour Norris, 39, aunt of Raneem and sister of Khaola, said Raneem had repeatedly made calls to West Midlands Police about Tarin’s violent behaviour.
She criticised the force for not doing more to protect Raneem after the young mother took out a court order against Tarin just days before the murder.
She also said officers should have been quicker to get to the tragic pair after they called 999 to report him on the night they were killed.
Raneem had been married to Tarin for several years after meeting him at Solihull College and University Centre when she first moved to the UK from Syria.
Relatives said he repeatedly “hassled her” at college and she eventually consented to marry him – but he became violent towards her.
Mrs Norris revealed how Raneem had chillingly predicted her own death saying “I feel my life is going to end soon”.
She said: “Raneem and Janbaz’s relationship ended many months ago.
“After a few months of marrying Janbaz, Raneem decided he wasn’t the right man for her.
“When she decided she wanted to break off the marriage, she had to call the police on many occasions and social services came many times.
“She didn’t want him hassling her, she got a court order and that night he decided to take their lives.
“They understood that he was after them, she called the police and the result was that the police didn’t turn up and my sister had to fight for her daughter, and lost her life.
“Janbaz changed after the marriage.
“Raneem married this guy, and there was a history of him hassling her before that.
“He managed to win her heart.
“She would always come smiling and we didn’t know she had reported him to the police until a few weeks before the murder.
“It made us feel insecure when we knew he was on the run from police.
“We felt a bit frightened as well because we know what he is capable of doing.
“We feared for our own lives and our family and loved ones.
“Especially as he has mentioned harming the family many times to her.
“Another thing we couldn’t believe was that because she called the police many times on that night, they couldn’t locate him straight away.
“That was one of the things that made us feel more unhappy and more sad and more let down by the authority.
“We want to share the story because we want to protect other women.
“We have to change some law because something is not working.
“It didn’t work for them that night and it didn’t work for them for a few months when Raneem has asked for help.
“I’m sure there are a lot of vulnerable women out there who will need the same help and if we can protect them then we will feel our loved ones’ lives were not wasted.
“Maybe that’s one way we can all feel we can cope with the situation, if we feel that their lives will go to a good cause.
“We do feel we were let down by those who should have helped.
“There are probably a lot of women out there going through the same thing who agree with me.
“Janbaz used to tell Raneem ‘if you leave me, I will kill you and your family’.
“She knew the police and the authorities weren’t really helping her.
“One day in the garden, Raneem said to me ‘Auntie, I feel my life is going to end soon’. That was a few weeks before she was murdered.
“We can’t really put in words how their deaths have affected us as a family.
“My sister was like the pillar of our family, and what happens when the pillar goes is that everything collapses.
“That’s the way we feel and that’s what we are experiencing at the moment.
“I can’t really describe in words how it feels, what Janbaz has done.
“He hasn’t just killed two beautiful women, he has killed many families, destroyed many hearts and made a lot of futures very difficult.
“What happened to them, we don’t wish for even our enemy.”
Mohamed Saleem, 47, Khaola’s husband of 16 years and Raneem step-father, from Solihull, said: “The pain is indescribable.
“You can’t imagine what’s going through you when your loved ones have been taken away.
“My wife was the most beautiful woman in the world – same with my step-daughter.
“If you looked at them you could see they are full of joy, full of life.
“My wife designed our house so beautifully that when people used to come over they would say ‘this is such a beautiful house – this feels like heaven’.
“We used to have family gatherings, my wife was always the main entertainer, bringing all the family together.
“She was a strong character. She never thought about herself, she always wanted to have things the best for everyone else.
“Especially for her daughter, she was always there for her.
“It’s amazing how our lives have been emptied out. Every second of the day, it’s not the same.
“When it comes to my step-daughter, she had an amazing, beautiful personality.
“Just by looking at her, people forget their bad day. She was always smiling, full of life, and socialising.”
