Judge slams 000 operator's reaction to Afghan woman's call for help days before her death at hands of husband

Kate Jones  April 08, 2010 1:56PM

A JUDGE has slammed a 000 operator's reaction to an Afghan woman who called complaining of domestic violence days before her death.

Soltan Ahmad Azizi, 46, strangled his wife Marzieh Rahimi with her veil after complaining she had become "too Australian''.

Sentencing Azizi to a minimum of 17-and-a-half years behind bars, Justice Betty King said police should have been there for Ms Rahimi after she called 000 for help just days before her death.

Ms Rahimi, a mother of five, was killed in front of the couple's three-month old baby and toddler, 22 months, in their Hampton Park home in November 2007.

"It is most unfortunate that no assistance was forthcoming as a result of a very disappointing reaction by the telephone operator to your wife's inability to speak English in anything other than a broken English manner,'' Justice King said.

"Your wife was extremely distressed and kept asking why the police had not come ... a question that I would pose to this day.''

Wayne Debernardi, spokesman for the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority, said phone records had confirmed a call was made from Ms Rahimi’s address at 1.46am on November 20, 2007.

Mr Debernardi said the 000 operator did the right thing and referred the call to police.

"A triple 000 call was received by a female caller from the victim’s address,’’ he said.

"The ESTA operator identified the need for an interpreter but the caller hung up in the process of us getting that assistance.

"As per our standard operating procedures, the contact details were provided to Victoria Police for appropriate follow-up.”

Ms Rahimi had told her sister and social workers her husband was violent and she wanted a divorce.

The cousins had an arranged marriage in Afghanistan in 1995 and came to Australia as refugees in 2005.

The court heard Azizi believed he could dominate his wife and at times had locked her out of their Hampton Park home.

Just days before killing his wife, he complained she was becoming "too Australian'' in a phone call to his sister-in-law.

Azizi admitted killing his wife and even called the police afterwards, saying, "I'm ready for the handcuffs''.

However, he pleaded not guilty to murder with his lawyers claiming Azizi had not meant to kill her.

A jury dismissed this and found Azizi guilty of murder.

Justice King said Azizi demonstrated no genuine remorse and made untruthful claims his marriage was a happy one.

"Your treatment of your wife over a period of time was not what would be normally acceptable in this country, but you are not here to be punished for that, you are to be punished for your ultimate treatment of your wife which was that you killed her,'' she said.

Azizi was sentenced to 22 years in jail with a non-parole period of 17-and-a-half years