Life sentence for man who killed wife as she pushed pram

ODN

A controlling husband who "viciously and mercilessly" murdered his wife in a knife attack while she was pushing their baby in a pram has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 28 years. Kulsuma Akter, 27, was left bleeding to death by Habibur Masum, also 27, who had stalked her to a women's refuge in Bradford and attacked her in broad daylight. Report by Jonesia. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn

Transcript

00:00This is Habibur Massam, a controlling husband next to his wife, Kulsuma Akta,

00:07as she pushed their seven-month-old son in a pram in April 2024.

00:12He's carrying a knife and, moments later, Kulsuma was brutally murdered in broad daylight.

00:19Massam then casually left the scene in the Westgate area of Bradford,

00:24having stabbed his wife 25 times and left her to die next to the pram.

00:30The baby was left unharmed. Today, Massam was sentenced at Bradford Crown Court

00:36to life in prison, with a minimum term of 28 years.

00:40On the 6th of April 2024, you attacked Kulsuma Akta, your wife, in the centre of Bradford on a busy

00:49Saturday afternoon, stabbing her to death. You had spent days stalking Kulsuma and trying to trick

00:58her out of the safety of the refuge so you could confront her.

01:03She was in that refuge because of your violence and threats.

01:09In 2023, Massam was an expectant father, posting videos online ahead of their baby's arrival.

01:16But later that year, he became jealous and paranoid. Uncle Kulsuma fled with their child

01:21to a women's refuge in January 2024, after Massam had held a knife to her throat and threatened to

01:28kill her. The month before her death, Massam found out where Kulsuma was living, and she warned police

01:34of more threats against her. He tried to lure her out of her refuge by pretending to be a GP

01:41surgery offering appointments. And on April 6th, he posted fake photos of himself on holiday in Spain,

01:49tricking Kulsuma into believing it was safe to leave her accommodation. But Massam was here in

01:55Bradford, lying in wait. After murdering his wife, he fled and was arrested in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire,

02:02three days later. He claimed he never intended to kill Kulsuma, but lost control. The judge firmly disagreed.

02:11You messaged Kulsuma's brother, stating, if I don't get my family back by the first, I will kill

02:19everyone. I messaged Kulsuma on Snapchat, stating, I will kill five of them. You then did a daily countdown.

02:29As Kulsuma stated to her social worker, Amy Tucker, the threats had made her worried about her family.

02:37She was mentally disturbed and distressed. The nature and extent of your attack

02:43proves beyond all reasonable doubt that you intended to kill her.

02:49In a statement read by police following the sentencing, Kulsuma's family described Massam as

02:55a monster, adding that Kulsuma's infant son is the only light in all this darkness.

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