Suitcase murder accused strangled wife, trial told

The body of Suma Begum was found in a suitcase 10 days after she was reported missing

A man video called his wife's boyfriend while strangling her, before dumping her body in a suitcase and throwing it in the river, a trial has heard.

Aminan Rahman is accused of murdering Suma Begum, 24, who was found in the River Lea on 8 May 2023.

On the night before she went missing, the Old Bailey heard that Mr Rahman called the man Ms Begum was having an online relationship with, and told him he had murdered her.

Mr Rahman, 46, denies charges of murder and assault by beating on an earlier occasion.

The Old Bailey heard how he filmed himself attacking Ms Begum in a video call he made to his wife's boyfriend, which was recorded on the recipient's mobile phone on 29 April 2023.

Opening the case for the prosecution, Jocelyn Ledward KC said that Mr Rahman had "most likely" killed Ms Begum "there and then", but had at the very least "incapacitated" her before placing her body in the suitcase and dumping it in the River Lea in east London.

"If not already dead by then, she would have inevitably have drowned," Ms Ledward said.

Ms Begum was reported missing from an address in Orchard Place, Tower Hamlets, on 30 April.

'Children screaming'

The suitcase was found 10 days later washed up on the riverbank downstream.

Mr Rahman has pleaded guilty to a charge of preventing the lawful and decent burial of Ms Begum's body, the jury heard.

The couple had entered into an Islamic marriage over the telephone in 2019 when the defendant was in London and Ms Begum was living in Bangladesh, Ms Ledward said.

Suma Begum was in an "intimate" online relationship with a man her own age, Shanin Miah, who was living in the United Arab Emirates and they "hoped in due course to be together", Ms Ledward told the court.

On the night of 29 April, neighbours heard children screaming and a "loud bang" against the wall, the prosecutor said.

At the same time, Mr Miah received a WhatsApp video call from Mr Rahman, which he managed to partially screen-record but without any sound.

In the video played to the court, Ms Begum was seen on a bed covering her face with one of her children nearby.

"The defendant then said he would murder Suma... and murder him," said Ms Ledward.

"Suma said she wanted to leave but the defendant grabbed her neck. She screamed and was unable to talk."

The video feed then froze, but 28 seconds later Mr Rahman made another video call in which he said "I have murdered Suma" and pointed the camera at his wife, showing her lying down with saliva coming from her mouth, the court heard.

CCTV showed to the court captured Mr Rahman leaving his address carrying one of his children and pulling a large black suitcase.

Further CCTV was played to the jury, which the prosecution said showed Mr Rahman lifting the suitcase on to a metal barrier by the River Lea and pushing it into the water.

"There is no dispute that Suma Begum was in that suitcase - placed there by the defendant," Ms Ledward said.

The trial continues.