An Afghan mother-of-two who was allegedly murdered by her husband and his brother in Queensland was trying to get divorced.
Muzhda Habibi, 23, was found dead at her home in Springfield Lakes in Ipswich, south-west of Brisbane, on May 16, and her husband Khalilullah Habibi, 26, and brother-in-law Masihullah Habibi, 28, were charged with domestic violence murder the next day.
Both have been remanded in custody and their cases will be mentioned in court on June 25.
Ms Habibi, who had two sons aged three and four who are now being looked after being strangers as they had no other family in Australia, told her sister in a WhatsApp voice message on the day she was allegedly killed that she was unhappy in her marriage, Daily Mail Australia reported.
Local Afghan immigrant community advocate Rita Anwari said Ms Habibi had joined her husband in Australia in 2021, but he pushed her to go back to Afghanistan and stay with his family, and she had been travelling back and forth between the two countries for the past few years.
“She eventually asked for a divorce. Under Sharia law back in Afghanistan after divorce the children are with the father and she was worried,” Ms Anwari said.
“She got married with this fella to come to Australia to complete her education, to go to work, and also she had a dream to see her children as graduated from university.
“In Afghanistan girls can’t go to school past grade six, and can’t work outside the home. It’s kind of like a woman is living in a cage.”
She said Ms Habibi had been sleeping in her car and one night in a motel before she and her accused killers moved to the home where she was found “unconscious and not breathing” at 8pm on a Friday night, and had been hoping to move somewhere else.
A memorial is planned for Ms Habibi this Sunday, and Ms Anwari said she hopes her children can be looked after by the deceased woman’s family, who live in Spain, the UK, and the US.
Ms Anwari said the her sister was holidaying in Kabul when she heard about Ms Habibi’s death, and when her mother was told she collapsed and needed to be hospitalised.
Header image: Left, Ms Habibi and Khalilullah Habibi. Right, Ms Habibi (supplied).
