Death-plunge Muslim model 'tormented by womanising husband who had wed THREE times before'

The family of the model who plunged to her death from the balcony of a luxury apartment yesterday insisted she would not have killed herself.

They said Sahar Daftary, a Londoner who was crowned last year's Miss Face of Asia, had 'everything to live for'.

But they also claimed her marriage had been a sham and her husband was a womaniser.

Sahar Daftary and Rashid Jamil on their 'wedding day' last year. She died after falling from his 12th floor luxury apartment. Her life fell apart after she discovered he had allegedly been married three times before

Miss Daftary, who was due to turn 24 tomorrow, married 33-year-old businessman Rashid Jamil in a lavish ceremony 12 months ago and left her job as a personal shopper at Harrods.

However her life fell apart after she discovered that he had allegedly been married three times before and still had a wife and two children, relatives revealed yesterday.

Meanwhile his second wife, a lawyer by whom he has an 11-year-old daughter, said she had left the former curry house boss because of his drinking and womanising.

It is also unclear whether Mr Jamil's third marriage was ever legally recognised under English law.

Miss Daftary, who had been planning to fly to Dubai with friends for New Year's Eve, had tried to rebuild her life, recently starting studies for an accountancy degree.

Mr Jamil led the life of a wealthy entrepreneur but was behind a string of failed businesses and lived in a rented flat.

The happy couple 'wed' in Brentford, west London in December 2007

Ms Daftary shows off her wedding ring

He was arrested on suspicion of murder after she plunged to her death from his 12th floor waterside apartment at the weekend but was later released on bail.

It is understood that evidence so far points to her death being suicide or a tragic accident.

It also emerged that a pornographic video clip apparently featuring Miss Daftary and an unnamed man had recently been posted on a publicly-accessible website.

She was said to have feared the footage would damage her career, and police are expected to examine whether somebody had made it public out of spite.

Yesterday Miss Daftary's anguished family, who live in London but are originally from Afghanistan, said they are convinced she wouldn't have taken her own life.

Miss Daftary's mother Anisa, a widow, has been left distraught by her daughter's death.

Sahar's brother-in-law Joe Karim said: 'She would never commit suicide. It was against everything she believed in. She had everything to live for. She was a beautiful, intelligent, religious woman.'

Rashid with second wife Sebina Malik at their wedding in 1996. She has now revealed that he had conducted a secret affair with another woman, Narissa Amjad, while still married to her

Miss Daftary's sister, Mariya Massumi, said: 'Sahar did not have a new partner but she had moved on with her life. She had started studying and stopped modelling. She had washed her hands of Rashid.'

The family released photographs of the Islamic ceremony at which Miss Daftary married Mr Jamil in December last year in front of 200 family and friends at the Holiday Inn near her home in Brentford, West London.

They show the couple looking happy at the engagement party followed by the exchange of rings and vows and cutting of a four-tier cake in front of guests and an imam, who oversaw the ceremony.

Sahar wore a floral dress before changing into a more traditional green dress for the wedding ceremony.

Sahar's death is being treated as either suicide or a tragic accident

But crucially, the union was not registered with the authorities, claim her family. The couple had met through her modelling work, which often took her to fashion shows in Manchester.

The newlyweds initially divided their time between London and his apartment in Salford Quays, near Manchester United's Old Trafford ground.

But within a matter of weeks, Miss Daftary discovered that her ' husband' in fact already had a 'wife' in Manchester, 29-year-old Narissa Amjad, a marketing executive who was expecting their second child.

'When the wife phoned we didn't believe her,' said Mrs Massumi. 'She phoned every day. Eventually we went up to Manchester to ask him what was going on. His wife was there and his sister-in-law.

'He said in front of his wife that he wanted to be with Sahar. He had told Sahar that his wife was only with him for the money.'

Mr Jamil is thought to have first undergone an arranged marriage in Pakistan which ended in divorce. He then married lawyer Sebina Malik in Manchester in an officially recognised wedding. They had a daughter, but again the couple divorced.

The couple surrounded by family members during their wedding ceremony

With Narissa Amjad he had a boy, now four, and a girl, one. It is not known whether his marriage to Miss Amjad was registered officially or just recognised in the form of an Islamic ceremony, but in the eyes of Miss Daftary's family he is guilty of bigamy.

Their suspicions were first aroused when his parents did not turn up to the Holiday Inn ceremony - he claimed they were against the wedding because she was an Afghan - and again when he cancelled an appointment to register the marriage.

Despite the revelations of his allegedly secret past, Miss Daftary initially agreed to move to Salford Quays with him, but when it became apparent that he was staying with his 'wife', she decided to finish the relationship.

Having quit her job helping wealthy Arab shoppers at Harrods she enrolled in an accountancy and finance degree at Thames Valley University near her home.

'Remembering Princess Sahar'

Her sister added: 'Sahar had moved on. Last month Rashid tried to get back together with her. He offered to buy my sister a house and he asked her to live with him. But she told him she didn't want his money.'

At the weekend she had agreed to travel to Manchester to do the make-up for a fashion show at an Indian restaurant.

Friends have told her family that they had a row but that she then agreed to go to his £250,000 rented apartment at the NV Buildings on Saturday evening after he offered to give her an Islamic divorce.

Shortly afterwards, police received a call from Mr Jamil requesting assistance. By the time they got there she had suffered fatal injuries after her 150ft fall.

The luxury apartment block from which Ms Daftary plunged to her death

A man at his apartment refused to answer the door to the Daily Mail yesterday. Earlier Mr Jamil had been seen leaving a red rose next to the spot where Miss Daftary landed.

Last night Mr Jamil's ex-wife Sebina Malik revealed that he had conducted a secret affair with Narissa while still married to her.

And she did not divorce him until July last year, long after his Islamic wedding to Narissa and just a few months before the ill-fated ceremony with Sahar, meaning the three 'marriages' almost overlapped.

She and Mr Jamil were childhood sweethearts, marrying in 1996.

Model looks: Ms Daftary's family have urged police not to write off her death as suicide. Here she poses with a friend

Miss Malik, who lives near his parents in Rochdale, said: 'People would have said we were the perfect couple. But four or five years after the marriage, he began drinking and began his affairs and things went downhill after that.

'He always had two women on the go. He would never be faithful to just one woman. Two girls turned up at my house, knocking on the door claiming they were pregnant. They said he'd promised to marry them and divorce me.'

She said he eventually left her for Miss Amjad but then became obsessed with Miss Dafarty.

'For him to be with a model, a girl like that, was beyond his dreams. She was a young, hot chick from London. He lavished her with money and jewels.'

Stunning: The dead woman was named Miss Asia 2007. She was in Manchester for a modelling job

She said she didn't believe he was responsible for her death. 'It could have been an accident,' she said. 'I think that it could be possible she has committed suicide.'

A police source said: 'Witnesses have said there was no shouting or ranting - just a single scream. It is being looked at as either suicide or a horrible accident.'

Her friend, Afrah Sami, said: 'We are all shocked and devastated. Sahar was very beautiful - she loved life and she was always the centre of the party.'

Source: Daily Mail Uk.