Bangladeshi man jailed for life in UK for murdering wife in front of their baby

A Bangladeshi man has been sentenced to life in prison in the United Kingdom for murdering his estranged wife as she pushed their baby in a pram through a busy city centre.

According to a BBC report, 27-year-old Habibur Masum fatally stabbed Kulsuma Akter, also 27, in Bradford last year. He will serve a minimum of 28 years in jail before being eligible for parole.

Masum attacked Kulsuma "viciously and mercilessly", stabbing her 26 times in broad daylight in front of bystanders, said Mr Justice Cotter during sentencing at Bradford Crown Court today (23 July).

"You pulled out a knife from your pocket and attacked her in full view of passers-by," the judge said, noting that Masum had deliberately targeted her neck and later "stamped on her" before "cutting her throat".

"The wounds you had inflicted were unsurvivable, as was your intention," he added.

Masum, originally from Bangladesh, had been living in the UK on a graduate visa after completing a degree in English literature at the University of Bedfordshire. However, the visa expired on 20 June. 

The Home Office is expected to assess whether he should be deported 36 months before his minimum term ends, the court heard.

Stephen Wood KC, prosecuting, told the court there was a "high likelihood" that deportation proceedings would be pursued.

The murder occurred on 6 April 2023. At the time, Kulsuma had been staying in a refuge in Bradford since January, after Masum had held a knife to her throat at their Oldham home.

In the lead-up to the attack, Masum was seen "loitering, watching and waiting" near the refuge and had sent threatening messages to Kulsuma, warning he would harm her family if she didn't return to him.

To lure her out, he sent fake text messages claiming to be from a local GP. Believing he was out of the country, Kulsuma left the refuge to meet a friend, but Masum tracked her using a phone location app and ambushed her in the city centre.

She was stabbed at least 25 times. CCTV footage shown in court captured Masum calmly leaving the scene and boarding public transport to Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in an apparent attempt to escape arrest.

"There were no tears, there was no distress," said Mr Wood. "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 a car park near Stoke Mandeville Hospital in the early hours of 9 April, where he had gone to seek treatment for "lockjaw". 

He later pleaded guilty to manslaughter and possession of a bladed article but was convicted of murder in June. He was also found guilty of assault, making a threat to kill, and stalking.

Following Kulsuma's death, the couple's seven-month-old son was taken into care.

In a statement read in court, Minara Begum, wife of Kulsuma's brother, said, "I will never forget what Masum did to Kulsuma. When I am at home and in the kitchen cutting things with a knife, I cannot stop myself from 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."

Another statement from Emran Hussain, Kulsuma's older brother, said, "She wanted to be, and she was for the short time she had, the best mother. Nothing can ever prepare you for the shock of learning that a family member has been murdered. I still cannot comprehend this has happened to my baby sister. I will never recover from it."

A wider family statement said, "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."

Marie Walsh, from the Crown Prosecution Service, described the case as "callous and shocking".

"Habibur Masum is a violent and dangerous man who subjected his estranged wife to violence and domestic abuse causing her to flee their home to live in a safehouse in Bradford," she said.

"Unable to accept the relationship was over, he managed to track her down and then stabbed her multiple times. We hope the imprisonment of Masum has brought some comfort to the family and friends of Kulsuma."