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Mohammad Ali Halimi sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering 21-year-old Ruqia Haidari

By Joanna Menagh
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A court sketch of a man wearing a grey jumper with very short hair.
Halimi will have to spend 19 years behind bars before being eligible for parole.(

Supplied: Anne Barnetson

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A Perth man who murdered his 21-year-old wife six weeks after he paid $15,000 to wed her in a "forced" marriage has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a 19-year minimum.

Warning: This story deals with graphic violence, domestic violence and abuse.

Mohammad Ali Halimi, 26, used a kitchen knife to twice slash the throat of Ruqia Haidari at their home in the Perth suburb of Balcatta in January last year.

The day before, Halimi made a recording on his mobile phone in which he complained about Ms Haidari, who was seen lying down in the footage when he wanted her to be cleaning the house or cooking food for him.

The Supreme Court was told Ms Haidari, who was from Victoria, was not sexually attracted to Halimi, had repeatedly rebuffed his attempts at intimacy, and their marriage was not consummated.

The court heard they would frequently argue about their relationship and on the day of the murder she had told Halimi to "f*** off", which had angered him.

Halimi then spoke by phone to Ms Haidari's brother, who the court was told was involved in arranging the marriage, complaining she "was not giving him any love".

A police officer in a protective vest stands at the front of a house with trees and plants either side.
The court heard the pair would frequently argue about their relationship.(

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The brother heard Halimi tell Ms Haidari to be quiet and respectful, before he heard his sister say: "Don't touch me, don't hit me."

Nine minutes after the call ended, Halimi called the brother back and told him: "If you're a man, come and get the dead body of your sister."

Leaving the 21-year-old bleeding on the floor, Halimi went to the Mirrabooka police station in his bloodstained clothes and handed himself in, telling officers he had slit his wife's throat.

A bloodied knife sitting on a bench.
Halimi used a kitchen knife to kill Ruqia Haidari. (



Halimi never pressured Ms Haidari, lawyer says

The court was told the couple had married in Melbourne in November 2019 after Halimi paid Ms Haidari's family $15,000.

In his video-recorded interview with police the day after the murder, Halimi said he knew Ms Haidari had been "forced" into the marriage, saying she told him straight away she had been "pushed" by her parents and did not love him.

However, in a letter to the court, Halimi — an Afghan refugee — claimed it was not until he went to prison that he was "shocked" to discover Ms Haidari had never wanted to marry him, saying if he had known he would have helped her get a divorce.

His lawyer Seamus Rafferty also submitted that his client never "pressured" Ms Haidari to marry him, and she told him before the wedding she was "fine" to do so.

Mr Rafferty also said Halimi's traumatic upbringing, including his father being killed by the Taliban when he was five years old, had led to him suffering a psychological impairment. He said when he murdered Ms Haidari he had "a complete loss of self-control."

Mr Rafferty said Halimi had an idealised sense of marriage, which was "a dream goal" for him, and he had become angry and upset when his life plan was not working out.

Mr Rafferty also said while arranged marriages were not part of the Australian community, within his client's culture "such marriages are considered appropriate".

Brutal act of violence in ill-fated relationship

Justice Bruno Fiannaca described the murder as "a brutal act of violence carried out in what was an ill-fated, brief, unhappy relationship".

He said the couple had only met each other a month before they were wed in a religious ceremony which resulted in what he called an unregistered "de facto marriage".

Justice Fiannaca said while Ms Haidari expressed "misgivings" before the wedding — and obtained documentation from the Australian Federal Police about whether she could be forced to marry — she had ultimately "acquiesced". Although he noted that "her outward appearance may not have always reflected her true feelings".

However Justice Fiannaca said he was satisfied that from an early stage of the relationship, Halimi was aware that Ms Haidari had been pressured by her parents into the marriage.

He also described as "nonsense" Halimi's claim that he was "shocked" to find out only after the murder that Ms Haidari had never wanted to marry him.

"You were aware of the deceased's attitude to the marriage and that she had been pressured by her family," he said.

Justice Fiannaca said he was also satisfied Halimi did feel a sense of entitlement and believed Ms Haidari should "obey" his demands relating to domestic matters.

"I find the motivation was that, in your eyes, the deceased was disrespectful to you," he said.

"You were no longer prepared to put up with her hostility and disrespect."

Justice Fiannaca said while he did not want to comment on arranged marriages, "the fact that [the couple] were practically strangers was at the core of the problems in the marriage".

"It was dysfunctional and flawed from the start … It was your duty to ensure she was not trapped in a marriage she did not want to be a part of," he said.

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