A YOUTUBER who stalked his wife before stabbing her to death in a horrifying ambush attack in front of their baby has been jailed for life.
Controlling husband Habibur Masum “viciously and mercilessly” stabbed his wife to death as she pushed their baby in a pram after tracking her to a women’s refuge.
Social MediaTragic photo shows the mum on her wedding day before her husband Habibur Masum murdered her in front of their baby[/caption]
PAHabibur Masum, 27, was sentenced today[/caption]
PAHe chillingly stalked his wife to a women’s refuge[/caption]
The 27-year-old was found guilty of murdering Kulsuma Akter, also 27, in a “ferocious” knife attack in broad daylight.
He left her bleeding to death and calmly walked away, leaving their seven-month-old son behind.
At a hearing at Bradford Crown Court, Mr Justice Cotter handed the killer a life sentence with a minimum term of 28 years.
The judge described how Masum stalked Kulsuma to the refuge and tricked her into thinking she was safe, before a brutal ambush where he “slit her throat and stamped on her”.
Masum was convicted of murder, one count of assault by beating, making a threat to kill and stalking.
He showed “no remorse, only self pity”, Mr Justice Cotter said.
“You had a firmly held belief that your wife was not your equal and should do what you told her to do.”
KILLER HUSBAND PRETENDED TO BE A GP
Sentencing him, the judge said: “Had she not been tricked out of the refuge by you, she would have been moved to another.
“You bought a new phone so she wouldn’t recognise your number and sent quite convincing texts pretending to be a GP.”
Masum chillingly stalked Kulsuma to the refuge in Bradford where she had been staying to escape him, after he held a knife to her throat at their home in Greater Manchester.
After finding her through her phone location, Masum loitered in streets around the hostel and sent her messages threatening to kill her family members if she did not return to him.
He tried to lure her out by sending her fake messages from a local GP practice pretending their son had an appointment.
The court heard Kulsuma eventually felt safe enough to leave the refuge on April 6 last year after Masum updated his Facebook page falsely claiming to be in Spain, even getting his brother to lie for him.
The judge pointed to “clever false messages” and fake posts on social media as Masum pretended to be abroad – all the while buying a knife and making plans to escape after killing his wife.
As she was walking in the city centre with a friend, pushing her baby in a pram, Masum confronted her.
CCTV footage of the attack captured her screams as Masum stabbed her repeatedly.
The judge continued: “I have no doubt, that fearful of you as she was, she did nothing to provoke you.
“You pulled a knife out of your pocket and attacked her in full view of passersby. The footage was very distressing to view.
“She sustained 26 wounds to her neck, face, and chest. Her injuries included defensive ones.
PACCTV photo of Habibur Masum getting on a bus after attacking his wife[/caption]
PAHabibur Masum appearing in the dock at Bradford Magistrates’ Court[/caption]
GRINNING ON CCTV
“You intended to kill her. You calmly walked off after the attack.
“The wounds you inflicted were unsurvivable. That was your intention. As attempts were made to save her life, you walked off to catch a bus.”
He then calmly walked through Bradford city centre and was seen on CCTV grinning as he got on a bus, believing at that point he was getting away.
“You booked an Uber to Birmingham. You were not distressed. You put your phone on airplane mode so you would not be located.
“You shaved your beard, cut your hair, changed your clothes. But you were unlucky. Your jaw, which you had problems with in the past, dislocated again as you yawned.
“Although you gave a false name to get treatment, you were arrested.”
Masum travelled almost 200 miles south to Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, and was arrested in the early hours of April 9 in a car park near Stoke Mandeville Hospital, where he had gone to be treated for “lockjaw”.
The judge said there was a significant degree of planning as he “stalked” his wife and made plans to leave the country.
PACCTV of Habibur Masum, 26, walking with his wife Kulsuma Akter and their baby[/caption]
PAMasum walking away after he attacked his wife[/caption]
ATTACK WAS ‘EXCESSIVELY VIOLENT’
The judge added: “It was sustained and excessively violent in a busy city centre on a Saturday afternoon. Those present are unlikely to ever forget it.”
The court heard the killer husband had depression, and his personality was “violent, self-centred, jealous, controlling and coercive”.
His depression “turned up the volume” of this and impacted his self control.
But the contribution of this to the murder was “exaggerated”, the judge ruled.
“It was calm and collected. You never lost control.”
“You stole a precious young life in a brutal and merciless fashion because of your refusal to let her live her life free from your violence and controlling behaviour.
“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.”
Kulsuma’s brother Emran Hussain said her death had left her family with “such a deep, painful void in our lives”.
‘I AM GOING TO MURDER YOU’
His trial heard the relationship between Masum and Kulsuma was “an abusive relationship characterised by his jealousy, possessiveness and controlling behaviour”.
The couple met and married in Bangladesh, and came to the UK in 2022 after he obtained a student visa and enrolled on a Masters course to study marketing.
They moved into a house in Oldham together in September 2022.
On November 23 2023, he became jealous over a “completely innocuous” message Kulsuma received from a male colleague and held a knife to her throat.
Masum told her: “I am going to murder you, and the police will be taking me.”
The next day, after coming home from work, he went into their bedroom carrying a knife and said: “Tell me what your relationship is with him, or I will kill you.”
A female family member who was concerned for the new mum’s safety called police and Masum was arrested that night.
He was later charged with two offences of assault by beating and one offence of making a threat to kill.
The court heard Kulsuma told a social worker she “believed that one day her husband would kill her” and was moved to accommodation in Bradford in January 2024.
Despite being barred from contacting his wife, Masum messaged her saying if she did not return by April 1, he would kill her brothers.
The court heard the refuge called police but the following day, Masum sent a Snapchat video of Bradford station with a message saying he had “come to her town”.
Kulsuma decided to leave him, being moved to the Bradford refuge by Oldham social services in January 2024.
PAKulsuma Akter, 27, who was stabbed to death by her husband[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
