A ‘violent, jealous, controlling’ husband stabbed his wife to death as she pushed their baby in a pram after tracing her to a refuge, a court heard on Monday.
Habibur Masum, 26, launched a ‘ferocious’ knife attack on Kulsuma Akter, 27, after confronting her on a street in Bradford, West Yorkshire.
She was staying at what was meant to be a secret location in the city to escape his ‘violence, jealousy and controlling behaviour’, a murder trial heard.
In what jurors were told they may see as a ‘chilling prediction’ of what was to come, five months before killing her, Masum allegedly told his terrified wife ‘I am going to murder you’.
After she moved to the refuge, Masum sent threatening messages saying he had tracked down where she was staying.
But on April 6 last year – two days before she was due to be rehoused – and believing her estranged husband was in Spain, she ‘felt safe to leave the refuge’.
However at 3pm Ms Akter – who was walking with a friend while pushing her seven-month-old son in a pram – was shocked to be confronted by Masum, Bradford Crown Court heard.
CCTV footage played in court showed Masum walking with Ms Akter until he stopped her, then spinning her and the pram around before pulling a knife from his jacket.
Kulsuma Akter, 27, pictured with husband Habibur Masum, 26, who is on trial for murdering her as she pushed their seven-month-old baby in his pram
‘Jealous’ Habibur Masum, 26, made a ‘chilling’ threat to ‘murder’ his wife Kulsuma Akter, 27, five months before killing her, a jury heard
The scene at Westgate, Bradford, where Ms Akter was stabbed to death in broad daylight while pushing her son in a pram on August 6, 2024
Prosecutor Steven Wood KC said: ‘He grabs Kulsuma and pushes her into a wall, stabbing her to the body.
‘You will see that Kulsuma then goes to the ground only for the defendant to launch a ferocious and deadly attack.
‘When the defendant had finished stabbing her, as a final act of sheer gratuitous violence, he kicks Kulsuma before moving away, but not before ensuring that he disposed of the knife.’
The court heard Ms Akter suffered multiple stab wounds to her body and face including a wound to the neck which partly cut her windpipe and severed her left jugular vein.
Mr Wood said her killing represented ‘cold-blooded, calculated, pre-meditated murder’.
‘Why would the defendant take a knife with him to meet his estranged wife unless he planned to use it?’ he added.
The court heard that by November 2023, Ms Akter and Masum had been married for about 18 months.
Mr Wood said: ‘Generally, the relationship had been good, but there were already warning signs.
Habibur Masum, 26,stabbed his estranged wife Kulsuma Akter, 27, to death as she was pushing their seven-month-old son in his pram in Bradford, West Yorkshire. He denies murdering Ms Akter but has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and possession of a knife
Police officers in white forensics gear stand within a cordon at the scene of the stabbing in Bradford
‘There were previous incidents of his making threats to kill her, and in July 2023 she was staying with family members because of his controlling behaviour.’
Jurors heard on November 23, 2023, Masum became jealous over a ‘completely innocuous’ message she received from a male colleague.
He grabbed her face, slapped her and pulled her hair.
‘In what you may think was a chilling prediction of what he was to do in April of the following year, he told Kulsuma, “I am going to murder you, and the police will be taking me”,’ Mr Wood said.
The next day, after coming home from work, he went into their bedroom carrying a knife and said: ‘Tell me what your relationship is with him, or I will kill you,’ jurors heard.
Mr Wood said Masum put the knife to Ms Akter’s throat and ‘she was so genuinely afraid that he would cut her throat, that she thought that the only way to stop him was to keep the baby on her lap’.
A female family member who was concerned for Ms Akter’s safety called the police, and Masum was arrested that night, jurors heard.
In his interview at Ashton police station he denied using any violence towards his wife and ‘just asked who the guy was’.
He also told officers he had no mental health conditions.
The court heard Masum was charged with two offences of assault by beating and one offence of making a threat to kill.
Habibur Masum, 26, allegedly tracked down his estranged wife Kulsuma Akter, 27, before he launched ‘ferocious’ and lethal knife attack as she pushed their son in his pram
Floral tributes left outside a shop in Westgate, Bradford, close to where Kulsuma Akter was stabbed to death on April 6, 2024
Jurors heard Ms Akter told a social worker she ‘believed that one day her husband would kill her’, asking if her son could stay with her sister-in-law and brother ‘when this day comes’.
She was moved to accommodation in Bradford in January 2024.
Mr Wood said in March, Ms Akter told her social worker Masum had contacted her on Snapchat, threatening that if she did not go back to him by April 1 he would kill her brothers.
The court heard the refuge contacted the police.
The next day, Masum sent Ms Akter a Snapchat video of Bradford Interchange Railway Station with a message saying he had ‘come to her town’.
He later sent her a photo of the refuge with a message saying: ‘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.’
In the days leading up to the attack he tried to trick her into leaving the refuge by pretending to be from a GP’s surgery and offering her fake appointments.
The court heard Ms Akter’s social worker arranged for her to be rehoused and she was due to move on April 8.
But in the meantime she heard from one of Masum’s relatives that he was in Spain, and ‘felt safe to leave the refuge’ on the day she was killed.
At the time of the attack he was subject to court bail conditions ordering him to keep away from her, they heard.
After stabbing Ms Akter, Masum left her and his son at the scene and got on a bus, Mr Wood said.
He later travelled almost 200 miles south to Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.
He was arrested in the early hours of April 9 in a car park near Stoke Mandeville Hospital, where he had attended to be treated for ‘lock jaw’.
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.
The trial continues.
