Man jailed for life over Bangladeshi wife‍’s murder in UK

An "evil man" who strangled his wife for having an online affair and dumped her body in a river has been sentenced to life in prison.

Aminan Rahman, 46, from east London, attacked 24-year-old Suma Begum during a video call with her boyfriend last April, the Old Bailey previously heard.
The court was told how Rahman put her into a suitcase after choking her, at which point she might still have been alive.

At the Old Bailey, Justice Bennathan set a minimum of 22 years before Rahman can apply for release on licence.

He had pleaded guilty before his trial started to a charge of preventing the lawful and decent burial of Begum‍‍`s body.

Passing sentence, Justice Bennathan said Begum was a "lively, attractive young woman and devoted mother" who had dreamed of a new life with a man her own age.

After strangling his wife, Rahman had within minutes folded her body into a suitcase and thrown it into the Thames basin, "hoping it would never be found", the judge said.

Rahman then spun a "web of lies", saying Begum had left of her own accord, Justice Bennathan said.

The trial heard that Rahman was filmed attacking his wife during a video call with her boyfriend Shanin Miah, which was recorded on the recipient‍‍`s mobile phone.

Prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward KC said Rahman had "most likely" killed Begum "there and then" at their flat in Tower Hamlets on the night of 29 April 2023, but had at the very least "incapacitated" her before cramming her body in the suitcase and dumping it in the River Lea.

The suitcase was found by a member of the public 10 days later, still containing her body, washed up on the riverbank downstream.

Begum had entered into an Islamic marriage over the telephone in 2019, when Rahman was in London and she was living in Bangladesh, the court heard.

They had first lived in Somerset as husband and wife, where Rahman worked as a chef, before moving to east London in April 2023 where they stayed at a flat in the Docklands with their two children.

Begum had by then started an "intimate" online relationship with Miah, a man her own age who was living in the United Arab Emirates. They had "hoped in due course to be together", the trial heard.

Rahman also threatened to kill Miah, the court heard.

A statement from Begum’s half-brother, Abdul Amin, was read to the court on behalf of his family and her mother, Rahena Begum.

“During the trial we heard about the abuse that Suma suffered at the hands of Aminan, and how he killed her on 29 April 2023," the statement read.
"We have learned of the pain that Suma went through throughout her marriage to this evil man.”

Amin said his sister was a "beautiful woman who enjoyed spending time with us" but had become withdrawn after arriving in the UK.
He added: “We have learnt… that Suma wanted to tell us about how Aminan was abusing her but he threatened to kill her if she did.”