Man who murdered wife pushing baby jailed for life
10 minutes agoAdam LaverBBC News, YorkshireReporting fromBradford Crown Court
West Yorkshire PoliceA man who murdered his wife in front of their infant son has been jailed for life.
Kulsuma Akter, 27, had been living in a refuge in Bradford when she was fatally stabbed by her husband, Habibur Masum, as she pushed their seven-month-old baby in a pram through the city centre in April last year. The child was unharmed.
Last month, Masum, 27, of Leamington Avenue in Burnley, was convicted of murder following a trial at Bradford Crown Court.
Sentencing him at the same court on Tuesday to a minimum of 28 years, the judge, Mr Justice Cotter, told Masum he “viciously and mercilessly” attacked Ms Akter, stabbing her 26 times.
“You pulled out a knife from your pocket and attacked her in full view of passers-by,” the judge said.
He said Masum stabbed her, deliberately targeting her neck, adding he “stamped on her” before finally “cutting her throat”.
The judge said: “The wounds you had inflicted were unsurvivable, as was your intention.”
West Yorkshire PoliceBefore sentencing, the court heard that the Home Office would assess the suitability of Masum, who is from Bangladesh, to be deported from the UK 36 months before the minimum term.
He had been on a graduate visa after studying English literature at the University of Bedfordshire, but this expired on 20 June.
Stephen Wood KC, prosecuting, said he had been informed that there was a “high likelihood that this will be pursued”.
The court previously heard that Ms Akter had been at the refuge since January after Masum held a knife to her throat at their home in Oldham.
In the days leading up to the attack, Masum was seen “loitering, watching and waiting” in streets around the hostel.
West Yorkshire PoliceThe trial jury heard he had sent messages threatening to kill family members if Ms Akter did not return to him, before trying to lure her out by sending fake messages from a local GP practice.
On 6 April, Ms Akter left the hostel to meet a friend, thinking that Masum was away in Spain.
However, he later confronted her in the city centre, having tracked her through her phone’s location app, and stabbed her at least 25 times.
CCTV footage played in court then showed Masum calmly walking away and making his way to Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire in an attempt to evade police.
Mr Wood KC told Bradford Crown Court during Masum’s trial that the 27-year-old had smiled as he boarded public transport.
“There were no tears, there was no distress,” he said.
“Perhaps, members of the jury, the smile you can clearly see form as he gets on that bus is as a result of him thinking at that point he’s getting away: the smiling killer.”
Masum was arrested in the early hours of 9 April in a car park near Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury, where he had gone to be treated for “lockjaw”.
He later pleaded guilty to manslaughter and possession of a bladed article but was convicted of murder in June.
He was also convicted of one count of assault by beating, making a threat to kill and stalking.
A statement by Minara Begum, who is married to Ms Akter’s brother, was read out in court by a family liaison officer.
“I will never forget what Masum did to Kulsuma,” she said.
“When I am at home and in the kitchen cutting things with a knife, I cannot stop myself thinking that he stabbed her brutally with a knife in front of their baby.
“I ask myself how anyone could do that.
“So many questions come to mind that I will never get answered.
“It makes me very upset, frustrated and angry.”
Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.