Dark past of husband arrested over mum-of-five’s death as top cop reveals grim new details about her suspected murder

Police have revealed the troubled past of a husband arrested after his wife was found dead at a ‘very violent murder scene’ inside the couple’s home.

Police rushed to a unit complex on Knox Street in Belmore in Sydney’s south-west at 7.50am on Wednesday after receiving a call about a ‘distressed woman’. 

Mother-of-five Khouloud Hawatt was found dead inside one of the apartments. 

Her husband Talaat Hawatt, 35, was later arrested in Denham Court about 30km east of Belmore and is expected to be charged with murder. 

The couple, who were married in Lebanon in 2015, have five children who range in age from six-months-old to eight-years-old. 

Superintendent Sheridan Waldau said Ms Hawatt died ‘some time early this morning’ with officers stumbling on’a very violent murder scene’.

Hawatt has a history of weapon offences and his wife had an apprehended violence order (AVO) against him when she was allegedly killed, Supt Waldau said. 

Police were also called about Hawatt less than 48 hours when he was alleged to have been involved in an incident at the school where two of his children attended.

‘It’s very difficult to enforce these things if they don’t get reported,’ she said.

‘And that’s the biggest thing with domestic violence, is that the victims don’t come forward.

‘The family members and friends of these people need to encourage them to come and report to us, because we can’t help them if they don’t ask for help.

‘We know that it takes some time for victims, up to 27 times, before they will come and seek help from us.

‘It’s a tragedy when things like this happen.’

Police had received a call-out related to Hawatt on Monday when he had a ‘minor interaction’ with a school teacher at the school where two of his children attended. 

He had left the school by the time police arrived and police went to his home to talk to him about it but there were no offences committed, police said. 

Supt Waldau confirmed the man was known to the strike force targeting domestic violence offenders, known as Operation Amarok.

‘I know that he has come under the notice of Amarok before, and he had a compliance check by Campsie police in only August,’ she told media. 

A woman who knew Ms Hawatt said she had spoken to her on Tuesday and that there had been no indication that anything was wrong. 

She claimed the family were due to be kicked out of the house in a few weeks and that neighbours had complained about them yelling and slamming doors.

It’s understood the young mum doesn’t have any family in Australia but that Mr Hawatt’s father lived in Condell Park in Sydney’s southwest.

‘The mother used to come into our store. She was very calm. It’s so sad because they have five kids,’ a local worker told Daily Mail Australia.