Image source – Sky News
A man who killed his niece and dumped her body in a wasteland has been jailed for at least 25 years for a ‘dreadful attack’, although a Bradford Crown Court judge described the offense as ‘honor killing’, reports Sky.
Mohammed Taros Khan, 53, killed Somaiya Begum at his home in Binny Street, Bradford on 25 June last year. They then dumped the 20-year-old student’s body in an industrial estate, where she was found decomposed 11 days later.
Mrs Begum, according to Justice Garnham, was “an intelligent young woman of real spirit and courage,” reports Sky.
The jury was told her father Mohammed Yasin Khan was trying to force Ms Begum to marry a cousin in Pakistan “by threat of violence”. When she was 16, her family was torn apart by attempts to force her into marriage.
Ms Begum grew up in a strict household with her mother and her father, but after threats of forced marriage, she managed to get an order of protection and moved to Binny Street, reports Sky.
During the trial, Taros Khan refused to testify in his defense. His lawyer told the court that his brother, Yasin Khan, had a clear motive for the killing and subsequently fled to Pakistan using a one-way ticket.
At trial it was said that Ms Begum’s body was so decomposed that it was not possible to determine the cause of her death, but a metal nail was found in her back, reports Sky.
Judge Garnham told Taros Khan: ‘You showed absolutely no respect for the dead body of your niece in the way you dumped it unceremoniously, wrapped in carpet and covered in scrap material, amongst rubbish on waste ground,” reports Sky.
Sentencing him to life in prison, the judge did not grant the prosecution’s request to treat the murder as an alleged honor killing: “It is pure speculation to consider whether this murder was part of some appalling family agreement,” reports Sky.
Prosecutor Daniel Lee said: “Somaiya Begum was a young woman who had her whole life ahead of her. Her murder is a tragedy and Khan now faces the consequences for his appalling crimes,” reports Sky.
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