Hina Bashir: Obsessed man guilty of murdering woman found in suitcase

Hina Bashir's body was found in a suitcase in Upminster, east London

A student who was "obsessed" with a 21-year-old woman has been found guilty of her murder and then dumping her body in a suitcase.

Muhammad Arslan, 27, of east London, was convicted of killing Hina Bashir following a three week trial at the Old Bailey.

The court heard a face mask was forced into Ms Bashir's mouth and she died from asphyxiation in July last year.

Arslan admitted to manslaughter earlier in the trial, but denied murder.

CCTV images played to the jury showed Arslan dragging a suitcase down the side of a lane where it was then hidden in undergrowth.

After Ms Bashir went missing, her friends and family contacted police and the suitcase was discovered with her body inside it.

Prosecutor Gareth Patterson KC said there was a "wealth of evidence" connecting Arslan with the murder, including the victim's blood, which was found on his bed, and face masks at his address that matched the one found pushed into the victim's mouth.

Ms Bashir had weighed just six stone and 11lbs (43kg) and "didn't stand a chance against this defendant's aggression," said the prosecutor.

The defendant's DNA was also found on the handle of the suitcase used to hide the body, the jury was told.

'Concocted explanation'

Telephone evidence indicated that at the time of Ms Bashir's disappearance, Arslan had taken possession of her telephone and had jealously looked through her messages to other men.

Giving evidence in his defence, Arslan claimed his actions were unintended.

Arslan, from Ilford, claimed he had confronted Ms Bashir over naked photos of her sent to him by other men and that he had been trying to keep Ms Bashir quiet when she became angry, by covering her mouth with his hand and then a face mask.

But the prosecution alleged this was an elaborate and concocted explanation and that he had killed her in a jealous rage.

Arslan tried to frustrate the police investigation, the jury heard, and planned to "disappear" to either Birmingham or Northern Ireland.

The trial was told Arslan and Ms Bashir had both grown up in the same village in Pakistan and, although Ms Bashir was five years younger than him, he had become close to her as a teenager.

Arslan had insisted after his arrest there was no romantic relationship between the two of them, but police found messages from Arslan declaring his love for Ms Bashir and wanting her to be his wife and to have a child.

Police also found, on Arslan's mobile phone, photoshopped pictures of Ms Bashir to which love hearts had been added.

"The evidence suggests the defendant was obsessed with her," said Mr Patterson KC.

In November 2021, Ms Bashir came to the UK from Pakistan to study business management and, several months later, Arslan followed, arriving in February 2022 as a mature student.

Arslan told friends he wanted to marry her and described her as a "fiancée", but she did not want to be with him and instead had a relationship with a fellow student, the court heard.

Last time seen alive

On 11 July 2022, Ms Bashir had asked two friends to accompany her to collect some belongings that were at Arslan's house in Ilford, which was the last time she was seen alive.

The defendant later claimed to police that she had gone back with her friends that day, but telephone evidence showed she never left Arslan's house, the prosecutor said.

The following day, Arslan asked a housemate who was a taxi driver to give him a lift and took a large black suitcase with him, which he dragged to a lane near Upminster, close to an industrial estate where he worked at a warehouse.

CCTV footage seen by the jury showed Arslan then return without the suitcase.

On two occasions the defendant travelled back to the lane to check on the suitcase, the court heard.

Police later arrested Arslan at his home but he refused to answer questions and instead provided a statement saying the last time he had seen Ms Bashir she had been "fit and well", and he stated he did not know where she was.

The defendant, who was also found guilty of perverting the course of justice, is set to be sentenced on Friday.

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