A MAN who murdered his niece and dumped her body has been told he will be an old man before he can apply for parole after being jailed for life.
Mohammed Taroos Khan, 53, of Thornbury Road, Bradford, was found guilty of murdering Somaiya Begum after her body was found dumped on wasteland off Fitzwilliam Street, on the outskirts of the city centre, on July 6 last year.
Khan had denied murdering Miss Begum, 20, of Binnie Street, Barkerend, Bradford on, or around June 25, 2022, but had admitted to disposing of her body.
He was jailed for life for a minimum term of 25 years for murdering Miss Begum, who was described as a vibrant young woman in court. The jail term means Khan will be 78 by the time he can initially apply for parole.
Miss Begum had been living at the house in Binnie Street with another of her uncles and her grandmother under the terms of a forced marriage protection order, following attempts by her father, Mohammed Yaseen Khan, to force her to marry a cousin from Pakistan "by threat of violence", a jury heard.
Miss Begum had a 10.7cm-long metal spike embedded in her back, which had penetrated her lung, when her body was found, and the court heard that strangulation was a possible cause of death. She was a student at Leeds Beckett University and also worked as a carer.
There was blood found on a table in the living room of her home in Binnie Street, which was a DNA match for Miss Begum.
Khan transported Miss Begum’s body to a shipping container he used at Carter Gate Works in Thornbury Road, Bradford, where it was stored overnight on June 25 last year.
He then wrapped her body in a carpet and drove to Fitzwilliam Street where he dumped his niece’s body into trees, behind a wall and among rubbish there.
Sentencing Khan at Bradford Crown Court today (Wednesday), Mr Justice Neil Garnham said: “There is no significant mitigation.
“I do take into account, however, the fact that on any view, you are going to be an old man by the time you are able to apply for parole.
“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. You left it there to rot in the summer heat.
“It is not possible to identify a motive for this dreadful attack by you on an innocent young woman.
“All that matters for present purposes is that the jury has found you guilty of the heinous crime of murder.”
But Mr Justice Garnham would not describe Somaiya’s murder as an honour killing.
The judge added: “I decline to speculate on your motive and I reject the prosecution’s suggestion that I should treat this as any form of so-called honour killing.”
Khan was also jailed for five years, to run concurrently, for a second charge of perverting the course of justice after he had admitted the disposing of her body and trying to burn her mobile phone.
He was found guilty by a unanimous jury verdict on March 14 after they had been in deliberations for almost nine-and-a-half hours spread over three days following a 10-day trial.
Four CCTV clips, shown in court during the trial, were released by West Yorkshire Police following Khan’s sentencing.
These included the last images of Miss Begum captured on CCTV before she was killed.
It shows the 20-year-old walking home from work in the early hours of the morning, at 00.04am on Saturday, June 25.
Other CCTV clips show Khan arriving at Binnie Street at 1.52pm on Saturday, June 25 last year. Khan was also captured arriving at Fitzwilliam Street, an industrial street on the outskirts of Bradford city centre, to dump Somaiya Begum’s body at 6.46pm on Sunday, June 26 last year.
Senior Investigating Officer Detective Superintendent Marc Bowes from West Yorkshire Police’s Homicide and Major Enquiry team, said: “Somaiya was a bright, young woman who was studying to get a degree, had a part-time job to support herself and was happy and content with home life.
“She had her whole life ahead of her and it was cruelly cut short by her Uncle, someone who is meant to love, care and protect her.
“Khan subjected Somaiya to a horrendous attack for reasons only known to him.
“Khan went to extreme lengths to cover up his crime, he dumped her body in wasteland showing complete disregard and disrespect for human life, with the hope that her body would never be found.
“Somaiya will never get the life she was meant to lead; Khan stole that life and he will now be spending a significant time in prison for his violent actions.”
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