Husband, 47, referred to as his spouse’s lover whereas strangling her

A jealous husband called his wife’s lover while strangling her in front of their child before putting her body in suitcase and dumping it in river, a court heard.

Aminan Rahman, 47, attacked 24-year-old Suma Begum in a flat in Docklands, east London, on the night of April 29, 2023 after finding out she had an affair with a man her own age.

Rahman was video calling Ms Begum’s boyfriend Shahin Miah, who was living in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates at the time, and making threats to him when he attacked his wife, the Old Bailey heard. 

Mr Miah told the court that Rahman was also threatening to harm his two-year-old son, who was present in the room when the ordeal unfolded. 

In CCTV footage from later in the night, which was shown to jurors, Rahman can be seen pulling a suitcase outside the block of flats before pushing it over some railings into the the River Lea. 

Rahman denies murder and an earlier assault on Ms Begum on 6 February 2023. 

Ms Begum had moved to the UK from Bangladesh in 2020 after marrying Rahman over the phone and their children were aged two and four months old when she died.

Prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward, KC, said other tenants living in the three bedroom flat began to hear a child screaming around 11.30pm on 29 April.

At around the same time Mr Miah received a WhatsApp video call from Rahman

Ms Ledward said: ‘The defendant is sitting on the bed, with the deceased hidden under the bedspread.

‘Later, she emerges, holding her head, with her young child standing on the bed beside her, and attempting to console her.

‘The defendant appears to be increasingly agitated, angry and physically aggressive.

‘The defendant is holding the telephone whilst gesturing towards the deceased in an aggressive manner.

‘The defendant grabs her and a struggle ensues. [The two-year-old] is present throughout.

‘Mr Miah could see that Suma was on the bed, covering her face, and that [the two-year-old] was nearby.

‘Mr Miah said that during the course of that call, the defendant made a number of threats, that he would assault Suma and put the blame on Mr Miah, that he would assault [the two-year-old] as well, and then come to Bangladesh and assault Mr Miah.

‘He told Mr Miah that Suma did not want him. She said she did.

‘His impression was Suma wanted to leave but the defendant grabbed her neck.

‘She screamed, and was unable to talk. The video feed froze for the last 34 seconds of the call, before the line is cut completely.’

Mr Miah screen recorded some parts of the video call and the video was played to the jury.

A video from a second call showed Ms Begum either dead or dying with her two-year-old sat beside her.

Rahman put the phone on the floor and continued angrily talking to Mr Miah while putting on some outdoor clothing, the court heard.

He told him: ‘I have murdered Suma’ and said ‘I have killed your mother and I am coming to kill you’, the court heard.

He had asked Mr Miah to refer to Ms Begum as his mother during the call, Ms Ledward said.

CCTV footage showed Rahman leaving the block of flats at 12.01am on 20 April carrying his two-year-old and pulling a large black suitcase behind him.

He walked to an adjacent block of flats which overlooked the River Lea.

CCTV shows him putting his child down, lifting the suitcase onto the metal barrier and pushing it into the water.

He then walked back home with his child.

‘CCTV footage shows the defendant pulling a suitcase outside the block of flats, to the railings above the river which was nearby, pushing the suitcase over the railings into the water below.

‘The suitcase was found by a member of the public just over ten days later, washed up on the riverbank downstream.

‘It contained the body of Suma Begum.

‘The prosecution case is that the defendant attacked Suma Begum, most likely killing her there and then, but at the very least incapacitating her, before putting her in the suitcase, and dumping the suitcase in the river.

‘If not already dead by then, she would inevitably have drowned. The prosecution allege that he did all this, intending to kill her or at the very least to cause her serious harm.

‘He is therefore charged with and must stand trial for the murder of Suma Begum.’

At 12.20am Rahman left the flat again pushing a buggy with both children inside, the court heard.

He ran into his relative who owned the flat who had been called there after the flatmates heard a disturbance.

Rahman told her he had an argument and was leaving, jurors were told.

Rahman and Ms Begum had an Islamic marriage over the phone in 2019 arranged by their families.

But to get into the UK Ms Begum married another man in Bangladesh who sponsored her visa application.

Ms Ledward said: ‘For some time up until her death in April 2023, all had not been well with the marriage between Ms Begum and the defendant.

‘Ms Begum had started a relationship with a man closer to her own age, Shahin Miah.

‘Mr Miah was also from Bangladesh, but living in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates by April 2023, and their contact was online – via messages, texts, and calls including video calls.

‘Mr Miah says they were intimate with each other over videocalls and that they hoped in due course to be together.

‘Suma was open about this relationship with Shahin Miah on her TikTok account, and certainly as far as Mr Miah was concerned both the defendant and Suma Begum’s family had found out about the relationship.

‘There was talk of divorce, but also of Mr Miah not seeing Suma Begum any more.

‘According to Mr Miah, the defendant was not happy about the relationship either, and threatened him a number of times.’

At some point the couple moved to Leeds with Rahman telling a friend he ‘couldn’t control’ Ms Begum anymore as she didn’t want to live with him anymore and wanted to be with ‘someone else, someone she loved.’

He said they were moving to Leeds so her uncle could control her and ‘impress upon her her responsibilities to her children.’

On February 6, 2023 Ms Begum sent videos to her boyfriend on WhatsApp showing scratches to her neck, the court heard.

She said Rahman had ‘come to kill her’ and had ‘taken her breath way’ and ‘almost killed me around my neck’, jurors heard.

She text Rahman saying she was blocking him and accused her of hitting her asking ‘how can you be so savage’.

Rahman replied saying her was scared of her and that he had left because she was about to hit him, the court heard.

On April 24, 2023 the couple and the children moved to London staying in a flat with a relative named Bibi Begum.

On 26 April Rahman sent a video to a relative on WhatsApp which showed bleach being poured into a shot glass and a voice speaking in Bengali threatening to drink the bleach and kill an unborn child.

Ms Ledward said it may be suggested in the trial that Ms Begum took the video when pregnant with her second child.

Rahman told relatives he was seeing solicitors in the days before the killing, the court heard.

He first came to the UK around 20 years ago and lived in Somerset working at an Indian restaurant.

Rahman denies murder and assault. He was assisted in court by a Sylheti interpreter, a Bengali dialect.

The trial continues.