He Dismembered His Wife & Tossed Her Remains in a Bath of Acid

Arnima Hayat dreamed of working as a surgeon, but after she became pregnant, a man she met while at medical school ended her hopes, dreams, and life. He dissolved her body in a bath of acid.

Hayat relocated from Bangladesh to Australia at age nine. Her parents decided to relocate in hopes of giving her a better life. She learned English fairly quickly and held big ambitions, including completing her studies and working as a surgeon. She had a sister 11 years her junior.

Hayat loved iced coffee and sushi, makeup, and helping others. 

As a young woman, Haya found herself attracted to boys and wanted a boyfriend. At age 19, she met Meraj Zafar, a fellow medical student. The two fell passionately in love and soon married in a private Islamic wedding without family or friends present.  Her family did not see her again after she married. The couple moved into a home together in North Parramatta. Within weeks, Hayat fell pregnant with their first child.

Life with Zafar was anything but happy. He controlled and abused Hayat, although she never reported the violence to the police. She told friends about the slaps, punches, and kicks, and how he treated her like a ‘slave.’ She told friends how he almost killed her and confided in them that she desperately wanted to get away from her husband. 

Leaving him, however, would take time. Hayat feared Zafar would try to kill her if he found out she wanted a divorce.

She was right.

The two exchanged text messages in which she told her husband he would go to jail when people found out he abused her. She told him she did not want a son like him. He replied by saying they would have many sons just like him.

Additional text messages revealed Zafar calling Hayat a “dumb bitch” and telling her that she did not have permission to leave the house.

On the night of January 22, 2022, Zafar killed Hayat, either by "obstructing her breathing or smothering her".

Authorities would later learn that Hayat texted a friend the day before she died, saying, “I have nobody except you.” The friend responded by saying, “You have got no choice. You have to stay with him.”  

On the night of the murder, Hayat texted the same friend, “I hate him!” She was dead 45 minutes later.

Zafar saw those text messages, causing him to fly into a rage, afraid Hayat would make good on her threat to leave him.

After killing his wife, Zafar Googled, “Can hydrochloric acid burn through skin?” several times. He also Googled, “How many years do you get for murder,” and made several other disturbing searches.

Zafar was seen on CCTV driving a truck to a home improvement store in Bunnings Northmead, where he purchased five 20-liter tubs of acid during two trips. He returned home and poured the acid into the bathtub. He then tossed his wife’s remains into the tub in an attempt to dispose of them.

On the night of the murder, Zafar called his mother and told her that he and Hayat had an argument, and she was no longer breathing. Police responded to the home and found Hayat in the bathtub. Zafar was arrested.

Hayat was unable to be identified by her family due to the decomposition of her body from submersions in the acid, and her identity was confirmed using DNA samples.

In May 2024, Zafar pleaded guilty to killing his wife and attempting to dispose of her remains in acid. In December 2024, he appeared via video link in the Sydney Supreme Court, where Justice Deborah Sweeny handed Zafar a sentence of 21 years and six months in prison. He will be eligible for parole in 2038.

Sources:

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/killer-who-put-pregnant-wife-in-acid-bath-jailed-for-two-decades-20241216-p5kypg.html 

https://www.bengalisofnewyork.com/domestic-violence-in-the-bangladeshi-communitythe-murder-of-arnima-hayat/

https://people.com/man-killed-pregnant-wife-putting-body-bath-acid-sentenced-reports-8764802