Battered Woman Syndrome: Nazaha’s case simplified

On 22nd June 2010 at around 3:00 pm, Mariyam Nazaha - a mum of a two year old boy at the time - stabbed her former husband, Hassan Shahid, in the back with a knife after he entered her house without her permission. She then put the knife in a plastic bag and reported herself to police. About one hour later at around 4:15 pm, Shahid succumbed to his injuries from the very knife he had bought Nazaha some two months earlier, leaving her the only suspect in his murder, by confession.

Nearly 15 years later, Nazaha remains imprisoned, serving a 25 year prison sentence that was commuted to 20 years by presidential clemency. However, Nazaha’s story is more than a murder case. It is also the story of a woman who endured years of neglect and abuse throughout her childhood and married life - a reality she claimed led her to act in self-defence when Shahid barged into her room on that fateful day.

Although she repeatedly stated in her police statement and court testimony that she suffered from Battered Woman Syndrome, her appeal to the High Court was unsuccessful. In a final bid to overturn her prison sentence, Nazaha escalated her case to the Supreme Court, which issued a ruling on 13th February 2025, one that set precedent for how claims of ‘Battered Woman Syndrome’ - a psychological condition caused by trauma of living with intimate partner violence, according to WebMD - and domestic abuse would be evaluated in future criminal trials.

While this case comes with a lot of nuances, legal and Shariah considerations without which the case cannot be truly understood, this is a simplified explanation of what happened and why.

Following investigations, Nazaha was charged with intentional murder and prosecuted at the Criminal Court. Nazaha denied the charge. Although she admitted her actions led to Shahid’s death, she denied that it was ever intentional. Instead she argued that she was provoked and feared that Shahid was going to attack her.

According to court documents, Nazaha and Shahid’s marriage was a mutually abusive one which reportedly left Nazaha bruised and even injured after a glass of hot water spilled on her and her child when Shahid pushed her. A colleague who worked with Nazaha at the time also took to social media recounting witnessing Shahid’s public physical abuse against Nazaha.

Despite their divorce and tumultuous marriage, they are said to have still maintained contact and even to have travelled overseas together with their child. However, sometime after that trip, Nazaha is said to have stopped answering Shahid’s phone calls. In retaliation, Nazaha said he stopped paying child support, obstructed her from going to work and harassed her on the streets. She also accused him of entering her room - after she moved back to her childhood home - and abused her there as well.

With no child support, Nazaha told the Criminal Court that she ran out of money and took her child and left him at Shahid’s mother’s house. Nazaha claimed that she could not look after the child and refused to take custody. This is said to have angered Shahid, and Shahid is even alleged to have threatened to gang rape her.

Shahid initiated legal proceedings regarding custody, and the court attempted to deliver a summons to Nazaha on the day of the incident. However, she had told her sibling, who was a minor at the time, not to tell anyone that she was home. Her sibling informed the court officer that there was no adult at home when he arrived at the residence.

Shortly after, Shahid entered the home with the court officer waiting outside on the stairs. He knocked on the door to Nazaha’s room and when she opened, Nazaha claimed he barged into the room and yelled out to a person or people waiting outside. According to Nazaha, Shahid’s words were “[She] is here. You [guys] come quick,” while the court officer claimed he said “hey, friend, come.” Nazaha also said Shahid started searching for something behind the TV rack, which according to her, was typical of him because he would find something behind the TV rack to hit her with.

Given the circumstances, Nazaha said she felt provoked and feared that Shahid was going to attack her. She reiterated during her hearings and appeals that she suffered from Battered Woman Syndrome. However, she was found guilty of intentional murder even by the Supreme Court. However, the Judge’s bench was divided with three judges ruling to uphold her conviction while two judges disagreed.

Judge Dr. Azmiralda’s Opinion

Judge Dr. Azmiralda agreed that Battered Woman’s Syndrome could have been a legitimate defence in Nazaha’s case as she stabbed Shahid in the back while not actively being attacked by him, which is common in women who are diagnosed with the condition. However, she noted that no expert reports or testimonies were submitted to support her claim of the condition. Without this, Judge Azmiralda ruled that Nazaha failed to prove her psychological state at the time of the attack.

“It is not entirely clear why such a report was not submitted. It is not known whether this was due to difficulties in accessing the help of mental health doctors and experts when the incident took place in 2010, or whether there was no proper opportunity to access the help of such doctors while in jail or whether it was because she did not receive advice to consult such a doctor,” her verdict read.

Presiding Chief Justice Ahmed Mu-uthasim Adnan’s Opinion

Judge Mu-uthasim Adnan ruled that there was no ground to prove Nazaha’s attack was in self defence as there was no evidence suggesting she was in active danger at the time, given that no physical altercation took place, and the stabbing was from behind. He, too, ruled that no evidence was submitted to prove her psychological state at the time.

Highlighting the weight of ensuring justice, Chief Justice Mu-uthasim said "[...] this is the hard part in this. What we have to consider here is, while judgements are made on the spot, we have to delve into it and consider whether this is justice. Even though we are sincere in this, we must avoid becoming emotional" the Chief Justice said.

Judge Ali Rasheed Hussain supported this opinion.

Judge Aisha Shujune’s Opinion

Judge Shujune stressed that intent of the crime was the prosecution’s burden to prove. She analysed multiple angles of various aspects of the incident and events leading up to it, including the society and state’s failure to protect Nazaha from the abuse she was going through. Judge Shujune also questioned whether the points highlighted in the Criminal Court and High Court reports were sufficient to prove intent, and rejected the selective approach adopted in the previous trials where a paraphrased version of Nazaha’s police statement on the day of the incident was used as evidence of intent.

Ultimately, Judge Shujune declared that only Nazaha’s statement truly illustrated the events of the incident, and referred to the statement of the court officer who went to Nazaha’s house that day to deliver the summons as well, ruling that she did not believe Nazaha’s intent to murder was proved.

However, Nazaha’s actions did end up taking Shahid’s life, Judge Shujune highlighted, and was of the opinion that the Criminal Court should revise the conviction on lesser charges.

With three judges in favour of upholding the conviction and two against, Nazaha lost her appeal. However, her case laid ground for future cases. As of now, Nazaha remains in prison serving the remainder of her 20 year prison sentence, but the door remains open for a possible clemency directive by a president any time before she fully serves her sentence.