A key piece of evidence in a fatal case of intimate partner violence played in court Wednesday captured a verbal altercation that turned physical.
The disturbing video was played at the trial for Irfan Khan, charged with the first-degree murder of his wife, Saima Khalid, a 50-year-old mother of three who was fatally stabbed inside the couple’s Scarborough apartment on March 10, 2023.
Toronto police homicide Det. Sgt. Munish Dhoum testified the video was found on Khan’s cellphone after his arrest.
It begins with the 54-year-old man looking directly at the camera while arguing with a woman, who can be heard yelling in the background.
She does not appear on camera except for roughly 10 seconds, about seven minutes into the 10-minute-long video. Court has heard that the woman is Khalid. At one point, Khan looks directly at the camera and calmly says, “She is a liar.”
In the video, Khan can be heard accusing Khalid of changing the password on a bank account and stealing money. He tells her she has “blackmailed him and blocked him from the account.”
Khalid denies it and tells Khan it is her money and her account. She also tells him she has called police.
“You are threatening me,” Khalid is heard saying. “How can I threaten you?” replies Khan, who tells his wife he is recording her. She replies that she is also recording him.
Khalid then tells her husband to “go file the divorce” and asks him to let her eat her breakfast. At times, the altercation is inaudible, at other times, the couple can be heard speaking in Urdu.
Khalid can be heard telling her husband she is on sick leave and stress leave and that she’s scared of him.
“Don’t come close to me, please,” Khalid exclaims.
Khan orders his wife to change the password. She tells him she will not.
At this point, Khan and Khalid walk into the frame of the camera, and then she is seen trying to walk away. Khan pushes her back and they both disappear out of the video frame as Khalid shrieks loudly.
Khan is then heard yelling in Urdu. According to the translator’s notes, Khan says, “I will kill you. I will beat you today. I will beat you today. (Expletive) (Expletive) (Expletive).”
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A note from the translator in the transcript indicates that in Urdu, “maar doomga” means, “I will kill you.” The translator writes, “Some people would sometimes just use it to mean, ‘I will get you,’ but that is not the literal sense of the phrase. The translation reflects strictly what was said, without inferring the intended meaning.”
Khalid is then heard in English shrieking, “Let me go. Let me go.”
Khan replies with more expletives before being heard saying, “I will not let you go. I will kill you,” as continued inaudible screaming by both Khalid and Khan can be heard on camera.
Khan is heard sobbing, saying in Urdu, “My God, my god, I will kill you.”
Khalid responds in Urdu, “Don’t do it. Take this.” Khan is then heard saying in Urdu, “No — you have messed up my life.”
The shrieking continues before the video ends.
Crown attorney Brian Moreira asked Dhoum to explain what was seen on the video.
“The video, specifically the audio, captures the killing by Mr. Khan,” Dhoum replied.
A 911 call was also played in court, which Dhoum said was received around 1 p.m. on March 10, 2023, in which Khan appears to confess to stabbing his wife.
The caller identifies himself as Irfan Khan and says he is at 11753 Sheppard Ave. E., Unit 709, before the operator asks him to explain the emergency.
“Emergency is that I had a fight with my wife for so, so long, going on, I even filed a police report against her, and I, I killed — I think I killed her just now,” said Khan.
Khan tells the operator that he and his wife were already talking to lawyers about a divorce and that he had complained to police in November.
“Right now, I had a fight with him (sic) since, since morning, ’cause she’s accusing stealing all the money and fight escalated, and I just, I just killed her, I think,” Khan explains.
Khan tells the operator his wife is lying down in the kitchen of the apartment and is not awake or breathing. The operator says paramedics are on the way and asks Khan to do CPR.
As Khan can be heard counting aloud, following the directions of the operator to pump on her chest, he says, “She’s not coming back.”
The operator tells Khan he’s doing a great job and he replies, “Just-, I, I have-, I just, I just, I just stabbed her.”
At times, Khan can be heard sobbing on the 911 call. While the audio recording was played in court, the accused sat with his head down, his hands clasped against his forehead and, at times, shaking his head.
During cross-examination, defence lawyer Tyler Smith asked Dhoum about a 911 call made by Khan’s brother at 12:28 p.m. on March 10, 2023.
Smith said that in the call, Khan’s brother indicated that both his brother and his wife were hurt but didn’t know their address, only their phone numbers.
“Do you know if there was a police response?” asked Smith. “Yes, I believe so,” Dhoum replied but explained that they attended a different address.
Smith confirmed that a knife was seized from the apartment and that Khalid was killed by a knife wound.
A screen grab from the video found on Khan’s phone was also shown. The clock read 11:30 a.m. Dhoum told Smith police believe the killing happened just minutes after 11:30 a.m.
Smith then asked Dhoum about the translator’s notes on the transcript from the video regarding “I will kill you.”
Smith told court that he and his co-counsel, Amy Li, had just learned there was a new transcription provided in which the translator noted some people in Urdu say, “I will kill you,” but it just means “I will get you.”
Smith told Superior Court Justice Peter Bawden the meaning of “I will kill you” is up for interpretation.
“It’s obvious this change in the interpretation might be one of the most crucial points of this case. The mental state of Mr. Khan,” said Smith. On Thursday, defence called those utterances “the main battleground right now.”
Defence is also arguing Khan’s charter rights were breached and is asking that the statement he gave to police on the night of his arrest be ruled inadmissible.
Khan was originally charged with second-degree murder, but the charges were later upgraded. The Crown alleges that Khalid was forcibly confined at the time of the killing.
Khan has pleaded not guilty. He tried to plead guilty to manslaughter at the outset of the trial but the Crown rejected that.
The trial continues.
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