A man has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 28 years after he was convicted of murdering his estranged wife, stabbing her a number of times as she pushed their baby in a pram.
Habibur Masum, 26, of Burnley, Lancashire, was found guilty of the murder in June after a trial at Bradford crown court. He was also convicted of one count of assault, one count of making threats to kill, and a third count of stalking.
Kulsuma Akter, 27, was shopping in Bradford when Masum confronted her. She was living in a refuge at the time, having fled the home they shared due to his violence and domestic abuse.
He had tracked her down, and confronted her while she was walking with a friend and pushing her baby son in a pram. Masum had previously sent her messages described by prosecutors as “menacing”, which contained threats to kill and photos and videos of the area and safe house where she was staying.
When Akter refused his attempts at reconciling the marriage, he repeatedly stabbed her in an attack in broad daylight on a busy street. Akter died from her injuries, which included more than 25 stab wounds, later that day.
Masum fled the scene but was quickly identified as a suspect after the attack was caught on CCTV. He was arrested three days later 175 miles south of Bradford, in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.
Masum had already pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to manslaughter and possession of a bladed knife. His guilty plea to manslaughter was not accepted by the prosecution, who proceeded with the murder trial.
In his sentencing remarks, the judge told Masum: “It is indeed a sad fact that it can be very difficult to entirely protect a woman in a refuge from a determined and cunning man intent on confrontation.”
Mr Justice Cotter said the “nature and extent” of his attack “proves beyond all reasonable doubt that you intended to kill her”.
Having taken a knife to the scene, the judge said his preparation for the attack was “calculating behaviour” and that his actions when he killed his wife were “calm and collected”.
The court heard how the defendant also sent her fake messages from a local GP practice pretending their son had an appointment to try to lure her out of the refuge.
Speaking about the murder, Cotter said: “It was a sustained and excessively violent attack, and Kulsuma suffered mentally and physically before her death as she tried to protect herself.
“The attack was in a busy city centre location on a Saturday afternoon – a shocking event which any of those involved are unlikely to ever forget.”
After getting on a bus to flee the scene, a three-day manhunt ensued and Masum was eventually caught in Aylesbury, where he had gone to hospital to be treated for lockjaw. CCTV footage showed a BBC appeal for the wanted man was playing on the hospital’s TV screens as he walked through to be treated.
Akter’s family described her as a “much-loved daughter, sister, aunt and mother”.
“Her loss has left a gaping hole in the lives of all her family and friends. We have been left with a profound sense of emptiness and a deep and painful void in our lives. She was a loving, caring and kind soul with a generous nature and touched the lives of everyone she came into contact with. As a family we miss her beautiful smile which would light up any room she entered. We will miss her humour, her kindness and her love.
“We will never forgive the monster who took Kulsuma from us and we do not wish to utter his name. It does not deserve to be mentioned. The monster who savagely took Kulsuma from not only us, but also from her baby son. He will never know her beauty and her kindness. He will never know his mother, other than the memories we as a family will share with him as he grows. He is the only light in all this darkness and Kulsuma radiates throughout him.”
