Habibur Masum tormented wife with sick Snapchat 'countdown' to family's death
Habibur Masum threatened to kill members of his wife's family in a twisted Snapchat countdown days before he stabbed her to death in broad daylight.
Masum, 27, was sentenced to life with a minimum of 28 years in jail today after being convicted for the murder of his wife Kulsuma Akter, with whom he had moved to the UK in 2022, in a chilling broad daylight knife attack on the streets of Bradford.
Bradford Crown Court heard today that the mum, who was also 27, had been lured from a woman's refuge by Masum and was wheeling their seven-month-old son in a pushchair when he stabbed her 26 times in the street, leaving her to bleed out with a slit throat. Just days before the sickening attack, Masum had attempted to force her into meeting him by threatening to kill members of her family.
Speaking in court before delivering his final sentencing of Masum, judge Mr Justice Barry Cotter documented a horrific stalking campaign carried out by Masum in the days before he murdered Ms Akter.
He told how Masum first tried to lure the mum by making threats to her brother after she had settled into a woman's refuge and "made friends" following a previous incident in which he had threatened to murder the mum. He said: "You threatened the five members of Kulsuma's family who live in the UK.
"You messaged Kulsuma's brother, stating: 'If I don't get my family back by the 1st (of April) I will kill everyone.' And [you] messaged Kulsuma on Snapchat stating: 'I will kill five of them.' You then did a daily countdown."
Ms Akter was left "mentally disturbed" following the countdown, the judge added, and said Masum decided afterwards to travel from Oldham to Bradford, where he eventually killed the mum.
After travelling to the town where she was living at the time, Mr Justice Cotter said he was caught on CCTV "loitering in the area of the refuge" before sending the mum a Snapchat showing the building.
He sent the video as he "wanted her to know that you had tracked her", the judge said. It was planned for Ms Akter to be removed from the refuge, but killed on April 6 before authorities were able to transfer her.
Masum was ultimately able to lure his victim from the refuge after falsely claiming via Facebook that he was in Spain, giving the mum a false sense of security.
He stabbed her death as she walked into Bradford centre while wheeling her young son in a pushchair after confronting her on the street.
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