Mum-of-three’s body discovered 12 years after she was murdered by husband

Police have found human remains during a fresh search for Rania Alayed, who was murdered by her husband 12 years ago.

Ms Alayed was 25 when she was murdered in an ‘honour killing’ by husband Ahmed Al-Khatib at a flat in Gorton, Salford, in July 2013.

Al-Khatib was found guilty of her murder and was jailed for life in 2014, but despite several searches by police Ms Alayed’s body never found.

However, yesterday Greater Manchester Police located buried remains by the A19 in Thirsk, North Yorkshire, after receiving new information regarding her whereabouts.

Although official identification is yet to take place, the force ‘strongly suspects’ the remains are Rania’s, the Manchester Evening News reports.

Ms Alayed’s son Yazan said the discovery had ‘come as a surreal surprise to me and my family’.

‘Being able to provide a final resting place is all we have wanted,’ he said following the news.

‘To have the ability to lay down a few flowers for my mother is more than I can ask for from this world.’

Ms Alayed was killed by Al-Khatib in a premeditated ‘honour killing’ following years of abuse after he accused her of becoming ‘too westernised’ and ‘establishing an independent life’, it was revealed during his trial.

Sentencing him, Judge Justice Leggatt, told Al-Khatib: ‘The contempt you showed for Rania in death matched the contempt of how you treated her in life’.

Following the discovery, Detective Chief Inspector Neil Higginson said: ‘More than a decade after her murder, we now strongly believe we have located Rania’s body and are finally able to provide closure to her family, who we know have endured so much pain and grief over the years.

‘Her murder was utterly horrific and not knowing where her body is has inflicted further pain to all those who knew her.’

‘I hope that we are now able to finally reunite her with her family, where she belongs, so that they can give her a proper resting place.’

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