A man broke down in tears while giving evidence in court as he recalled the moment he watched his married girlfriend being attacked by her husband on a video call.
Aminan Rahman, 46, is accused of strangling his wife Suma Begum, 24, on the night of April 29 last year in an east London flat, before allegedly stuffing her body into a suitcase and dumping it in the River Lea. The suitcase is said to have been found by a member of the public just over 10 days later, containing Ms Begum’s body.
A jury at the Old Bailey heard the events of April 29 were witnessed on video calls by Shahin Miah, 24, who was in an online relationship with Ms Begum. Ms Begum lived in the UK and Mr Miah lived in Bangladesh and then later in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
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The trial had to adjourn for a short break on Tuesday after Mr Miah broke down in tears while giving evidence. Sitting in the witness box, he sobbed and rested his head on his folded arms after telling jurors of a video call from Rahman in which the older man, in the bedroom of a flat in east London, was threatening to kill Ms Begum, who was on the bed in the background of the call.
Rahman also threatened to kill Mr Miah, who was in the UAE at the time, the court heard. “She wanted to run away and he then grabbed her throat,” Mr Miah, assisted by an interpreter, told jurors after he composed himself.
The witness recalled hearing “three screaming sounds” but said nothing further could be seen after Rahman’s initial lunge as the video was paused. He told the court that in a second video call from Rahman that night, the older man told him: “Look I have killed (Ms Begum) and now you get ready.”
“I saw that frothing was coming out of Suma’s mouth and he showed me on the video and he was swearing at me,” Mr Miah added. Mr Miah screen recorded both video calls, the trial heard.
He and Ms Begum met via social media app Tik Tok and began an online relationship in 2021. About seven or eight months into their “intimate, sexual” relationship, Mr Miah found out she was married to Rahman, he told jurors.
Mr Miah said he told Rahman of his and Ms Begum’s relationship, but the lovers stayed together and Ms Begum remained married. Rahman denies murder and assaulting Ms Begum by beating in a separate incident in February last year, but has pleaded guilty to preventing the lawful and decent burial of her body. The trial continues.
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