Somaiya Begum: Uncle guilty of killing niece who refused marriage

A man has been found guilty of murdering his 20-year-old niece after she refused a forced marriage.

Mohammed Taroos Khan, 53, killed Somaiya Begum before dumping her body on wasteland in Bradford in July 2022.

Jurors heard the university student was subject to a Forced Marriage Protection Order at the time of her death due to attempts by her father to force her to marry a cousin "by threat of violence".

Khan was convicted of murder after a trial at Bradford Crown Court.

The student's body was found wrapped in a rug, tied up with string, on land near Fitzwilliam Street 11 days after she went missing.

Khan, of Thornbury Road, Bradford, who denied her murder, admitted perverting the course of justice by disposing of Miss Begum's body and trying to burn her mobile phone.

On Tuesday, a jury of eight men and four women found him guilty of murder after deliberating for nine-and-a-half hours.

Khan looked towards the public gallery, where sobs could be heard, as the verdict was announced.

During his trial, jurors were shown CCTV footage of Khan dragging Miss Begum's body from his car and dumping it on waste ground.

The clip shows him parking on Mill Lane before getting out and pulling something long and light coloured out of the vehicle.

Bradford Crown Court previously heard the Leeds Beckett University student had been living with another of her uncles in Binnie Street after her parents had been issued with the order.

This followed her refusal to marry a cousin in Pakistan when she was 16 years old.

A post-mortem examination found a 4in (10.7cm) metal spike embedded in Miss Begum's back which had penetrated her lung.

A Home Office forensic pathologist told the court she was unable to ascertain a cause of death due to the level of decomposition.

Opening the case to jurors at the beginning of the trial, prosecutor Jason Pitter KC said: "(Miss Begum) had met a traumatic death following a violent attack at her home."

Mr Pitter said Khan "bundled up" his niece's body and it was "dumped and left to rot and decompose on wasteland like rubbish, such that she was not recognisable".

The prosecutor said there were "fault lines" in the family, adding that these were partly about "the way in which members of the family interpreted their cultural or religious obligations".

Khan is due to be sentenced at the same court on Wednesday morning.

Speaking on behalf of Miss Begum's family outside court, Fatima Patel, a family friend, said: "Their emotions are still all over the place, they're still grieving, but there is some kind of closure for them.

"All they want to do now is live on in Somaiya's memories and unfortunately continue in the grieving process."

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