British bride found hanged in Gambia after African husband told her he is infertile

Simone Jabakhanji told family and friends she was fearful of Mohammed days before her death

A British bride who moved to Gambia to live with her husband was found hanged after he told her he was infertile.

Simone Jabakhanji,27, told family and friends she was fearful of Mohammed, 29, days before her death. Mrs Jabakhanji, from Leyland in Lancashire, moved to Gambia after the couple married at a beach ceremony attended by her family.

She was found hanged at their home in the West African country's capital Banjul on August 13, 2011. Mr Jabakhanji was arrested for her murder by police after reporting her death but he was released shortly after.

Mrs Jabakhanji had been rowing with her husband after he was told of his infertility, an inquest into her death was told. Mrs Jabakhanji told her mother Janice Lally that she was scared of her husband and was used to going ‘into his own space’ for days when he got angry.

Giving evidence at the inquest, Mrs Jabakhanji’s mother said the couple would fight regularly and spoke to her daughter and husband on the evening of her death.

Mrs Lally said: "She phoned quite often. She had phoned on the Friday evening because she and Carlos had had an argument, she always wanted to speak with me or her friend when they had an argument.”

The inquest, held in Preston, was told that Mrs Jabakhanji and her family had been travelling to Gambia for many years and met her future husband during a trip.

Coroner Simon Jones said that there had been no co-operation from the Gambian authorities over her death and their investigation, despite repeated requests.

Mr Jones said there had been requests through Interpol, the Foreign Office and the Gambian High Commissioner, but had only discovered a limited amount of detail about the death.

Mr Jones delivered an open verdict, saying: "When a death like this happens in this country we get police statements, photographs of the scene. To record a verdict of suicide in the UK I have to be satisfied to a very high standard of proof that she did what she did intending to end her own life.

"But we can't be certain what she did was done with the intention of ending her life. That would be at odds with the conversations she had with family and friends. Similarly there is no evidence to suggest anyone else was involved."