An AVO meant to protect Khouloud Hawatt was relaxed. Months later, she was dead.

Khouloud Bakour Hawatt was trapped in an allegedly violent relationship.

In February, police took out an apprehended domestic violence order (ADVO) — a court order that protects you from violence, threats, stalking or harassment by someone you have or have had a domestic relationship with — against her husband, Talaat Hawatt. It should have kept her safe.

Hawatt was ordered to stay away from Khouloud, 31, and could only speak to her through a lawyer.

However, in April, Hawatt asked to have the ADVO watered down so he could move back in following the birth of the couple's fifth child, according to court documents, per 9News.

Despite concerns from the police, it was granted.

Less than four months later, Khouloud's husband is back before the courts charged with her murder and breaching the ADVO.

Khouloud leaves behind five children aged under eight, according to 9NEWS.

NSW Police at the scene of the domestic murder in Knox Street, Belmore in Sydney, Wednesday, December 11. Image: AAP.

Hawatt is accused of killing Khouloud at their Belmore home in south-west Sydney. It allegedly occurred in the early hours of Wednesday morning in what police described as a "very violent murder".

A triple-0 call was not made until 7:50am, Superintendent Sheridan Waldau told reporters.

Police said they forced entry into the apartment and discovered Khouloud's body.

Hawatt was arrested soon after, 30km away in Denham Court, near Campbelltown.

Police allege the 35-year-old used a homemade spear to stab his wife wife more than 30 times in the face, arms, shoulders and back, per 7NEWS.

Hawatt has been charged with domestic violence-related murder, contravening an apprehended domestic violence order, using a prohibited weapon contrary to a prohibition order and failing to comply with a digital evidence access order direction.

According to Superintendent Waldau, there were several minor interactions between the man and police over the last 12 months, including a restraining order check in August.

Defence lawyer Mostafa Daoudie described the circumstances of the event as "very tragic".

Watch: Husband allegedly murdered wife at Belmore home. Post continues below.

Remembering "a pure soul".

Khouloud's community has remembered the 31-year-old as a loving mother to her five children.

Friend Mohamed Shaar said he couldn't sleep after hearing the news.

"This woman was a pure woman, a pure soul," he said in a video online. "She was a great Muslim, a great mother and a great wife."

"We have five kids orphans now, father in jail and mother is dead. She has nobody in Australia."

Khouloud was the 98th Australian woman killed in 2024, according to Sherele Moody's Femicide Watch.

Khouloud Bakour Hawatt leaves behind five young children. Image: Sherele Mood's Femicide Watch.

Following the alleged murder, Police Commissioner Karen Webb said deaths of women to domestic violence kept her awake at night.

"Any death in a domestic violence setting breaks my heart," she said.

"We focus so much time and energy working with our partners, right across government and non-government [agencies] to stop domestic violence.

"[But] we can't arrest our way out of this, and we really need people to come forward."

Hawatt is due to face court again in February.

-with AAP

If you or anyone you know needs to speak with an expert, please contact 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) — the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service. If you are in immediate danger, call 000.

Mamamia is a charity partner of RizeUp Australia, a Queensland-based organisation that helps women and families move on after the devastation of domestic violence. If you would like to support their mission to deliver life-changing and practical support to these families when they need it most, you can donate here.

Feature image: Facebook.