Husband who strangled wife and dumped her in river after TikTok affair found guilty of murder
3 July 2024, 15:33 | Updated: 3 July 2024, 20:13
A man who strangled his wife for having an online affair with her "TikTok lover" before dumping her body into a river is facing life in jail after being found guilty of murder.
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Aminan Rahman, 46, attacked Suma Begum, 24, in their flat in Tower Hamlets last April while she was on a video call with her boyfriend, the Old Bailey heard.
Rahman, who is due to be sentenced on 31 July, had choked his wife before putting her into a suitcase and dumping her into the River Lea, the jury heard.
The killing was witnessed by Ms Begum's two children as well as her online boyfriend, who was living in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The court heard that Rahman had "most likely" killed Ms Begum "there and then" at their east London flat on April 29 2023, but had at the very least "incapacitated" her before putting her body in the suitcase.
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Prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward said: "If not already dead by then, she would have inevitably have drowned.”
On the night of Ms Begum's murder, her neighbours heard children screaming and a loud bang against the wall.
The suitcase, still containing the body of Ms Begum, was discovered ten days later by a member of the public washed up on the riverbank.
The court heard that Ms Begum's boyfriend, Shahin Miah, 24, had recorded an online video of the events leading to her death, which was later handed to police.
The pair had just moved to east London with their two children from Somerset where Rahman worked as a chef.
They had undergone an Islamic marriage over the telephone in 2019 while Ms Begum was in Bangladesh and Rahman was in London, the court heard.
Ms Begum had started an "intimate" online relationship with Mr Miah, who was her age, and they "hoped in due course to be together", said Ms Ledward.
On the night of the attack, Mr Miah received a WhatsApp video call from Rahman who was threatening to kill Ms Begum, the jury heard.
"She wanted to run away and then he grabbed her by the throat," he said.
The Old Bailey heard that Rahman called Mr Miah later that night and told him "Look, I have killed [her] and now you get ready."
Mr Miah told the court: "I saw that frothing was coming out of Suma's mouth and he showed me on the video and he was swearing at me."
CCTV footage showed Rahman leaving the Tower Hamlets flat shortly afterwards, carrying one of their children and pulling a large black suitcase before lifting the suitcase onto a metal barrier and pushing it into the River Lea.
"There is no dispute that Suma Begum was in that suitcase - placed there by the defendant," said Ms Ledward.
Giving evidence in his defence, Rahman alleged that his wife had demanded money from him to help Mr Miah come to England to join her and that she had threatened to hit their elder child unless he gave her £10,000.
He also claimed he had then grabbed his wife around the neck to defend the child, before he "panicked" and put her body into a suitcase, the court heard.
Rahman pleaded guilty before his trial to a charge of preventing the lawful and decent burial of her body.
