The former husband of a 26-year-old woman has been refused bail in a New South Wales court on Sunday after being charged with her murder, in what police believe is case of domestic violence.
Leila Alavi was found dead in her car on Saturday morning in the underground carpark of the Auburn shopping centre where she worked as a hairdresser’s assistant.
Initial examinations suggest she was stabbed, police said. Mokhtar Hosseiniamraei, 33, is alleged to have stabbed Alavi with a pair of scissors after going to her workplace, according to court documents.
He did not appear for the brief hearing at Parramatta local court on Sunday. No bail application was made and bail was refused.
Alavi was found by a colleague who had gone down to the carpark to check on her, according to Zeynep Zabinoglu, the owner of Cafe Bodrum, also located within the shopping complex.
Zabinoglu, who called the police, said she had seen Alavi just a couple of hours before she died.
“I arrived to work at 8am and parked near her in the carpark, and we said good morning to each other,” Zabinoglu told Guardian Australia.
“I opened up my cafe at 9.30am and then I heard one of the girls from the hair studio screaming and crying. Then I saw the hair salon owner run downstairs to the carpark a couple of minutes later, and everyone was screaming and upset.
“I ran towards the ramp to the carpark and was told to call the police.”
She said the owner of Benjamin Hair Studio, where Alavi worked, was devastated. “I know the owner well and I’ve spoken to him, and he is not coping well,” Zabinoglu said. “His little boy was very attached to her.
“Everyone is just horrified. I’ve known her for about two years and she was a lovely girl, very nice and very calm. It’s just so sad.”
Homicide squad detectives arrested Alavi’s former husband just before 7pm on Saturday and charged him with her murder, and with contravening restrictions on an apprehended violence order [AVO].
On social media Jacklin Poliena, Alavi’s sister, described her as “my little angel”.
“Please pray for her soul,” Poliena wrote.
Hosseiniamraei, of Guildford West, is due to face Burwood local court on 1 April.
