‘I don’t know what I was thinking

A husband accused of murdering his wife after discovering she was having an affair with her ‘TikTok lover’ broke down in tears as he told a court how he strangled her, stuffed her body into a suitcase then threw it into a river ‘in a panic’.

Suma Begum, 24, was allegedly murdered by Aminan Rahman, 47, in a flat in Docklands, east London.

Rahman – who worked as a chef at an Indian restaurant strangled his wife on April 29 last year before putting her body into a suitcase and then dumping her in the River Lea, the Old Bailey heard.

Jurors were previously told Rahman killed Ms Begum after he discovered she was having an affair with Shahin Miah, 24, who she met on TikTok. 

Appearing in court today, Rahman broke down in tears as he described the night of the alleged murder. He told the jury that his wife was on a video call with Mr Miah, who had branded Rahman ‘the son of a wh***’, before she allegedly grabbed their two-year-old son and tried to hit him. 

Rahman said: ‘She became very angry. She wanted to hit him. She was kicking me, she was scratching me. I grabbed her to stop her hitting my son. I thought if she grabbed him she might throw him out the window.

‘I put both my hands around her neck. She dropped to the floor. I was shocked. I was panicking. Then I picked up the phone and I called Miah back and said: ‘Because of you this has happened.’

Jurors were shown footage of the video call, with Mrs Begum lying lifeless in the background and her son crying next to her. Telling the court that he then realised his wife was dead, he said: ‘I got scared, I got panicked. I took my son next door. I had no intention to cause her any harm.’

Accepting that he then put his wife’s body into the suitcase and threw it in the river, Rahman added: ‘I don’t know what I was thinking. I was panicking so much. I don’t know how and why I did it.’

He said that he had thought about calling the police but he did not know the address he was at and ‘I wouldn’t be able to explain everything’. 

Rahman, who denies murder but admits preventing an unlawful burial, also denies attacking Ms Begum on February 6. 

Ms Begum had moved to the UK in 2020 after marrying Rahman over the phone and their children were aged two and four months old when she died.

The court heard she had video-called Mr Miah on February 6, saying Rahman had attacked her and showing him marks on her neck.

Rahman cried in court as he told the jury he had seen Ms Begum hitting their two-year-old son.

He said Ms Begum had earlier threatened that she would drink bleach to kill their unborn child.

Rahman said he had never attacked his son but had seen Ms Begum hit him on two occasions – February 6 and April 29.

Rahman said he knew Ms Begum was going to leave him for Mr Miah and that she had moved away from him to Leeds with the children. He said he was worried about his son when she took him to Leeds.

When asked if he missed him, he said: ‘I do not have a word to express how much I missed him.’

He said on February 5, he went to Leeds from Somerset and stayed overnight. He said Ms Begum then demanded £50,000 from him and then took his phone and called Mr Miah.

Rahman said: ‘He swore at me in indecent language, he used words like old, aged, son of a wh****, and after hearing those words I was nervous and also scared because I’m not used to this kind of language.

‘I said ”Suma, how have you become so bad, you’ve called him in front of me and asking me for money, have you gone that low?”’

He said Ms Begum then kicked their son, who was sitting in the middle of the room.

Rahman said: ‘He fell on the ground, I picked him up, then Suma picked up a knife. She picked up the knife and said: ”Today I will kill someone, at least one”.

‘I became shocked, thought what should I do, I thought she might throw the knife and if it hits my son he will be hurt.

‘So I grabbed hold of the hand that had the knife in, and using the other hand was pushing her maintaining a distance and holding on her neck.

‘And while I was holding her I took the knife from her hand. I took the knife and my son and went out.’

Rahman denies murder and assault but admits preventing a lawful burial.

The trial continues.