Zahra Ghulami: Father denies hitting toddler’s head against wall

Maidstone Crown Court heard Jan Gholami claimed to be at the supermarket when his adopted daughter Zahra was injured at home

A man accused of killing his adopted daughter denies taking out his "bad temper" on her and hitting her head against a wall, a court has heard.

Jan Gholami, 32, and his wife Roqia Ghulami, 31, were charged with the murder of two-year-old Zahra Ghulami, who died following a serious head injury in Gravesend in May 2020.

On Thursday, Maidstone Crown Court was told she suffered a skull fracture caused by Mr Gholami.

The pair deny all charges.

Zahra was admitted to hospital on 27 May 2020 and on arrival concerns were raised with Kent Police

She was transferred to a hospital in London where she died two days later.

Mr Gholami and Mrs Ghulami were arrested and charged with murder, causing or allowing the death of a child and child neglect.

Prosecutor Sally Howes KC said the toddler had suffered a skull fracture caused by "significant impact with significant energy" at the hands of Mr Gholami.

"You bashed her head against the wall, didn't you?" she asked.

"This caused bleeding under the brain," she told the jury.

Older injuries

The father-of-four told jurors he had gone to Tesco that morning and when he got home his son said Zahra had fallen down the stairs and was vomiting.

Mr Gholami, originally from Afghanistan, also denied allegations of causing older injuries before her death, including that he banged her head against the wall and fractured her skull.

Speaking through an interpreter, he said: "If I would do such things I wouldn't come to this country, there was a lot of violence in Afghanistan already.

"The reason I came to this country was for the welfare of my children."

Ms Howes also alleged Mr Gholami's children had argued about going for ice cream before his trip to the supermarket and that something happened for Mr Gholami to lose his temper with Zahra before he left.

The trial continues.

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