A YOUNG mother told an inquest how her family forgot to contact the emergency services when her husband set himself on fire in their home because they were too shocked by what had happened.

Nahid Bibi Shah said Parvez Hussain Shah, 23, poured turpentine over himself and set it alight after accusing her of not loving him.

He crashed through a front window at their home in Princess Street, Great Harwood, in January, and died after suffering 75 per cent burns.

But the inquest into Mr Shah's death was also told that a 999 call from a neighbour was recorded and in the background someone could be heard saying in Urdu, "Javed you have killed him".

Firefighters were also suspicious after finding that the room where Mr Shah was said to have set himself alight was immaculately tidy - even although he had crashed through a window while on fire.

Mrs Shah said she had not known about rumours that Parvez was having a relationship with her sister, Yasmin, until she was interviewed by police.

Javed Hussain, Parvez's father-in-law, said his wife told him she had thrown out the turps bottle because it smelled.

Mrs Shah told the inquest she had married Parvez, her cousin, in an arranged marriage in Pakistan in 1996.

Late on the evening of January 23, she said Parvez started asking her if she loved him and did not believe her when she said she did. Nahid said Parvez picked up a bottle of turpentine and started pouring it on himself.

She said: "I tried to stop him and begged him not to do it. He said he was going to kill himself."

She said Parvez walked over to the gas fire in the room, took a piece of paper out of a wastebasket and lit himself.

"He was all covered in flames. I ran out of the house and next door to my father's house."

Mrs Shah said she stayed at her parents' house while her mother and father went to find out what had happened to Parvez.

She said no-one thought to call the emergency services because they were all in shock.

Yasmin Shah, Nahid's younger sister, said there was no truth in the rumours about Parvez and her.

Leading firefighter James McKay, who attended the incident, said: "My first impression was that the living room was immaculate and we had come to the wrong house.

"It was like a house that had been tidied up very carefully." Assistant divisional fire officer Michael John Holmes said he found a patch of an oily substance and spent matches in the lounge.

Shane Hunter, of Princess Street, described how he heard the sound of a window being smashed, followed by a "curdling" scream.

He ran to talk to the emergency services and when he returned Parvez was slumped in the vestibule of his father-in-law's house with people around him.

"He had fear in his eyes and the look seemed to plead for help but I could not get near him because of the other people."

Aurangzeb Shah, of St Edmund Street, Great Harwood, admitted telling Nahid's brother Kafait that if anyone asked what had happened to Parvez, he was to say it was an accident.

He told the inquest: "I didn't want gossip to start up."

Nahid Shah was charged with her husband's murder following the incident but the case was later withdrawn by the Crown Prosecution Service after it was decided that there was not enough evidence.

(Proceeding)

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