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Husband, 26, 'casually walked off' after stabbing his wife to death as she pushed their seven-month-old baby in a pram, court hears
A husband 'casually walked off down the street' after stabbing his wife to death in broad daylight and leaving their baby behind, a court heard.
Habibur Masum, 26, launched a 'ferocious' knife attack on Kulsama Akter, 27, after confronting her on a street as she pushed their seven-month old infant in Bradford, West Yorkshire, the court was told.
Following the 'ferocious' knife attack, Masum threw the blade away before 'dusting his hands and calmly carrying on' as his wife was lying fatally injured in the street, a witness said.
The 26-year-old traced his wife to a secret location where she had been staying to escape his 'violence, jealousy and controlling behaviour', jurors were previously told.
But on April 6 of last year - two days before she was due to be rehoused - Ms Akter left the location, believing Masum was in Spain.
But at 3pm that day, he confronted her as she pushed their son in a pram, launching a knife attack, which left her with multiple stab injuries, including one which severed her jugular vein, prosecutors have said.
A man described hearing the mother 'screaming in agony and pain', as the trial heard witness statements today at Bradford Crown Court.
The witness said he was walking in the area with his pregnant wife and saw what looked like a man trying to drag a woman off a pram and 'punching her in the abdomen'.
Habibur Masum, 26, 'casually walked off down the street' after allegedly stabbing his wife in broad daylight, a court was told
The statement read: 'I did step forward to see if I could help the woman but then I realised he had a knife in his hand.
'I didn't see the knife or blood but I saw the stabbing motion which made it obvious he was stabbing her.
'He then overpowered her and threw her down in front of a car.
'The female was still screaming and then the screaming stopped. She wasn't shouting words or a name but was screaming in agony and pain.'
The witness described how 'within seconds' the man 'stood up and walked off' down the road, as he feared it to possibly be 'a male stabbing random people'.
'At that point I wasn't sure if... this was a male stabbing random people so I turned my family round and started walking back to our home address,' he said.
'I kept an eye on the male as I was concerned for my family. I saw him throw what I assumed was the weapon over a fence.
'He then dusted his hands and calmly carried on walking.'
The 27-year-old has denied murdering Ms Akter but has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and possession of a knife
The scene at Westgate, Bradford, where Ms Akter was stabbed to death in broad daylight while pushing her son in a pram on April 6, 2024
Police officers in white forensics gear stand within a cordon at the scene of the stabbing in Bradford on April 6
Another woman said she was in a car with her sister and sister-in-law when she heard screaming and saw a man stabbing a woman.
Her statement described how she saw the woman falling to the floor as well as the man 'casually walking off down the street' before throwing the knife away.
The court heard Ms Akter had been moved to accommodation in January 2024 after telling police she had been assaulted by Masum.
She claimed he had held a knife to her throat and threatened to kill her over a 'completely innocuous' message she received from a male colleague at a factory.
In a statement she made to police which was read in court, Ms Akter said: 'I was very frightened when he was holding the knife as I believed what he was telling me and that he might kill me... I do not want to stay with him anymore.'
She told officers her relationship with her husband of 18 months was 'usually good' but that 'recently he has been controlling me... taking my phone off me and not letting me contact anyone'.
In a short opening address to jurors, Frida Hussain KC, defending Masum, said: 'You will need to consider whether he attacked her because he was triggered by something that she said or did that caused him to lose his self-control.'
She told the jury they would also need to consider whether at the time he 'was suffering from an abnormality of mental function'.
Masum denies murdering Ms Akter but has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and possession of a knife.
He also denies two charges of assault, one count of making threats to kill and one charge of stalking.
