Husband charged with17 murder of wife knifed while walking baby son
THE husband of the young mother stabbed to death in Bradford as she pushed her baby in a pram was yesterday charged with murdering her.
Habibur Masum, 25, is alleged to have repeatedly knifed Kulsuma Akter, 27, on Saturday afternoon while she took her five-month-old son for a stroll in the city.
Masum, of Burnley, who is also charged with possession of a bladed article, spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and address during a six-minute hearing at Bradford Magistrates’ Court.
He was arrested in the early hours of Tuesday in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire – 180 miles away from where Ms Akter was stabbed – after a four-day nationwide manhunt.
Devastated
He will appear at Bradford Crown
Court today.
A 23-year-old man arrested in the Cheshire area on Monday on suspicion of assisting an offender has been freed on bail,WestYorkshire Police said.
Four other men were arrested in Aylesbury on suspicion of assisting an offender and drug offences.
The men – aged 23, 26, 28 and 29, from theWest Midlands – are currently in custody, the force added.
West Yorkshire Police has referred itself to the Independent Office of Police Conduct because officers had contact with Ms Akter before her death, a force spokesman has previously confirmed.
Ms Akter’s grief-stricken mother Monwara Begum, 60, who lives in a village near the city of Sylhet in Bangladesh, spoke of her heartbreak as a photograph of her daughter’s wedding emerged. She said: “I am still in shock, my heart is broken. She was my youngest daughter and I adored her greatly.
“When she moved to the United Kingdom, I was alone, but Kulsuma would call me every day by video – the only day I didn’t hear from her was the day she was attacked.”
Ms Akter’s brother Hossain said the family was devastated, adding: “We are heartbroken. We are not even able to speak and have been crying all the time since this happened.
“We had to call our mother in Bangladesh to tell her the news. Can you imagine what this was like for us? I can’t believe my sister is dead. I’m sorry, I can’t speak any more.”
Ms Akter had an arranged marriage to Masum just over two years ago in Bangladesh. He then came to the UK to study and she accompanied him as a dependent.