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5 months ago
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A mother was strangled to death by her jealous husband in front of their children after he discovered she was having an 'affair' with another man her age on TikTok, a court has heard.
Aminan Rahman, 47, is accused of attacking 24-year-old Suma Begum in a flat in Docklands, east London, on the night of April 29 last year.
He is accused of then dumping her body in a suitcase and throwing it in the River Lea, the Old Bailey has heard.
It is not known whether Ms Begum was dead or alive when she was put in the river inside the suitcase - but her body was found 10 days later.
Rahman was video calling Ms Begum's boyfriend Shahin Miah, also 24, making threats to him when he attacked her, jurors have been told.
Mr Miah said he was offered the equivalent of £6,000 to end the affair.
Suma Begum who was attacked by her jealous husband in a flat in Docklands, east London, on the night of April 29, 2023 after he found out she had an affair with a man her own age
Prosecutors allege Rahman put Ms Begum, dead or alive, into a large black suitcase in the early hours of April 30 before pushing it into the River Lea (pictured)
Ms Begum had moved to the UK in 2020 after marrying Rahman over the phone and their children were aged two and four months old when she died.
Rahman denies murder and an earlier assault on Ms Begum on February 6 2023.
Giving evidence in court today assisted by a Sylheti interpreter, Mr Miah said he was living in Bangladesh when he met Ms Begum on TikTok after she found his account there.
They never met in person but he said they had an 'intimate relationship.'
Mr Miah said they messaged as friends for a week until he became her boyfriend and after seven or eight months he found out she was married.
He said he had found out about her husband and she admitted it to him when he confronted her.
Mr Miah said he also found out she was married to another man which had enabled her to enter the UK.
When asked about her marriage, he said: 'I knew she was a good person and she was looking for a person like me.'
He said they would communicate on WhatsApp through video calls and make plans about what they would do in the future.
'I would give her time, she would give me time and she made plans about what we would do, what she would do with me, those kinds of things,' he said.
'She made plans she would marry me and then we would live together. She asked me to live in London with her and look after her children.'
The Old Bailey (pictured) heard Rahman was video calling Ms Begum's boyfriend Shahin Miah, who was living in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, at the time of the alleged attack
Mr Miah moved to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates in January 2023, the court heard.
He said Ms Begum moved to Leeds and he understood she was no longer living with Rahman.
They spoke of their plans to move back to Bangladesh together and get married, he said.
Jurors were shown a video Ms Begum sent to Mr Miah at 2pm on 6 February 2023 which showed her distressed with marks on her neck.
Ms Begum told him Rahman had come to her home wanting to see their child.
He said: 'She told me he then grabbed her by her neck, lift her and threw her on the bed.
'And after that he stamped on her neck.'
He said he asked her why she did not call the police and she said Rahman had threatened that people back in Bangladesh would be harmed if she did so.
The trial continues.
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