Habibur Masum left Kulsuma Akter ‘bleeding to death in gutter’ then calmly walked away grinning on bus – as court hears he told doctor ‘when he fights with her he feels like he is going to kill her’
A “violent, jealous, controlling” husband who launched a “ferocious” knife attack on his wife in broad daylight as she pushed their baby in a pram has been found guilty of murder.
Habibur Masum, 26, stabbed Kulsuma Akter at least 25 times before leaving her “bleeding to death in the gutter” and calmly walking away from the horrific scene in Bradford city centre, leaving their seven-month-old son behind.
In chilling CCTV footage played to the jury, the “smiling killer” was seen grinning as he boarded a bus after the attack, with prosecutor Stephen Wood KC telling the court: “There were no tears, there was no distress. Perhaps the smile you can clearly see form as he gets on that bus is as a result of him thinking at that point he’s getting away.”
The court heard Masum had tracked his 27-year-old wife to a women’s refuge in Bradford where she had fled to escape him after he held a knife to her throat following an assault at their home in Greater Manchester.
The stalking campaign
After finding her through her phone location, Masum was captured on CCTV in the days leading up to the fatal attack “loitering, watching and waiting” in streets around the hostel.
In a sinister campaign to lure her out, he sent her messages threatening to kill her family members if she did not return to him, before sending fake messages pretending to be from a local GP practice claiming their son had an appointment.
The messages warned of “increasingly dire consequences” if she did not attend the fictitious appointments.
Bradford Crown Court heard Akter eventually felt safe enough to leave the refuge on April 6 last year after Masum updated his Facebook page, falsely claiming to be in Spain.
The brutal attack
As she was walking in the city centre with a friend, pushing her baby in a pram, Masum confronted her.
CCTV footage showed him trying to steer Akter and the pram away before pulling a knife from his jacket when he realised she was not coming with him.
The footage captured Akter’s screams as Masum launched his brutal assault, stabbing her at least 25 times before she fell to the ground.
In what the prosecutor called “a final act of sheer gratuitous violence”, Masum kicked his dying wife “as a final insult” before lifting her head and deliberately cutting her throat.
The attack was so ferocious that Akter suffered stab injuries to her body, neck and face.
The escape and manhunt
After the murder, Masum calmly walked through Bradford city centre and was captured on CCTV grinning as he got on a bus, “believing at that point he was getting away”.
He travelled almost 200 miles south to Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, and was arrested in the early hours of April 9 in a car park near Stoke Mandeville Hospital, where he had gone to be treated for “lockjaw.
During the four-day manhunt, West Yorkshire Police launched a nationwide appeal to find him, declaring him a “prime suspect.
History of violence and control
The court heard the relationship between Masum and Akter was “an abusive relationship characterised by his jealousy, possessiveness and controlling behaviour”.
The couple met and married in Bangladesh, and came to the UK in 2022 after Masum obtained a student visa to study marketing.
In a chilling revelation, jurors heard that in August 2022, Masum was found by police at a tram station after an argument with Akter. He was taken to hospital where he told a doctor: “When he fights with her he feels like he is going to kill her.”
Escalating abuse
The court heard a disturbing timeline of escalating violence:
- July 2023: Akter went to stay with her brother because of Masum’s controlling behaviour, leading him to threaten self-harm with a knife before she returned
- November 23, 2023: Masum became jealous over a “completely innocuous” message she received from a male colleague, grabbing her face, slapping her and pulling her hair
- November 24, 2023: He went into their bedroom carrying a knife and held it to her throat after telling her: “I am going to murder you, and the police will be taking me
Following this incident, Akter was moved to the Bradford refuge by Oldham social services in January 2024.
Messages from the refuge
While Akter was at the refuge, Masum sent her a photo of the front of the building with a chilling message: “I know that you are living in this place. I knew from the first day you moved here.
“If I had any wish to kill you, I could have from the first day. You do not know what you have lost but one day you will understand. Nobody will love you like I do.”
The court heard Akter told a social worker she “believed that one day her husband would kill her.
Fake tears in court
During the trial, Masum refused to watch footage of the attack but broke down in tears as he claimed to have “lost control” when Akter told him there would be no shortage of people willing to replace him as a father to their son.
But prosecutor Wood said his tears “were as fake as his claims of self-harm” and that “the only person Habibur Masum feels sorry for is himself”.
He said antagonising Masum was “the very last thing Kulsuma would do” as she knew what he was capable of.
The verdict
Masum had pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denied murder, attempting to claim he suffered from an “abnormality of mind” or had “lost control.
But the prosecution rejected these defences, with Wood telling jurors: “We say the defendant is guilty of murder and these defences are advanced by him because, members of the jury, he has absolutely nowhere left to go.
On Friday, after a three-week trial, Masum was found guilty of:
- Murder
- Assault
- Making threats to kill
- Stalking
He had already pleaded guilty to possession of a knife in public. He was cleared of one additional assault charge.
Masum did not visibly react as the verdicts were read out.
Police failings
Both West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester Police have referred themselves to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) because of previous contact with Masum and Akter.
The IOPC investigation examined whether police were aware of any alleged breach of bail by Masum and whether there were “missed opportunities” to safeguard Akter.
Court bail conditions had ordered Masum to keep away from his wife at the time of the murder, but as prosecutor Wood told the jury: “No-one, absolutely no-one tells Habibur Masum what he can and cannot do.
Justice for Kulsuma
Judge Mr Justice Cotter told Masum he will be sentenced on July 22, when the minimum term for his life sentence will be determined.
Senior Investigating Officer Detective Chief Inspector Stacey Atkinson said outside court: “Kulsuma suffered a brutal attack in broad daylight whilst her baby son was in his pram.
“He tried to encourage Kulsuma back into the relationship. When she dismissed that, he repeatedly stabbed her in front of horrified onlookers. He left her there to die. He walked away and utilised public transport to facilitate his escape out of Bradford.
A nationwide manhunt for Masum was launched, and he was subsequently arrested and charged with Kulsuma’s murder.
Kulsuma’s family have been left absolutely devastated by her death. I hope today’s conviction will bring them a sense of justice in knowing that the man responsible for her death has been found guilty.
A mother’s grief
Speaking from Bangladesh after her daughter’s death, Kulsuma’s mother said: “I don’t want anything else, I just want a true judgement for my child… no other mum should suffer like me, no child should be taken away from their mum.”
The grieving mother recalled their final conversation on the day before the murder during Ramadan: “On the day she died I was praying, I didn’t talk to her. I spoke to her the day before at Sehri time.”
Kulsuma’s seven-month-old son survived the attack unharmed and is now being cared for by family members – growing up without the mother who tried so desperately to protect them both from his violent father.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, call the National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247
