East London man strangled wife, threw body in river, trial told

Aminan Rahman is on trial for allegedly strangling his wife, Suma Begum, before disposing of her body in a suitcase and throwing it into the River Lea.

The body of 24-year-old Suma Begum was found in the River Lea on May 8, 2023. The Old Bailey heard that on the night before she went missing, Rahman called the man Begum was having an online relationship with and claimed he had murdered her, reported the BBC.

Rahman, 46, denies charges of murder and assault by beating on a prior occasion.

The court was shown footage of Rahman attacking Begum during a video call to her boyfriend on April 29, 2023. The call was recorded on the recipient's mobile phone, the BBC reported.

Prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward KC stated that Rahman "most likely" killed Begum during the call or at least incapacitated her before placing her body in a suitcase and disposing of it in the River Lea, East London. "If not already dead by then, she would have inevitably drowned," said Ledward.

Begum was reported missing from an address in Orchard Place in Tower Hamlets, east London on April 30, 2023. Her body was found 10 days later downstream.

In the video shown to the court, Begum was seen on a bed covering her face with one of her children nearby. "The defendant then said he would murder Suma... and murder him," Ledward stated. "Suma said she wanted to leave but the defendant grabbed her neck. She screamed and was unable to talk."

The video feed froze, but 28 seconds later, Rahman made another video call, stating, "I have murdered Suma" and showing Begum lying down with saliva coming from her mouth, the court heard, as reported by the BBC.

CCTV footage presented in court showed Rahman leaving his home with one of his children and a large black suitcase. Further CCTV footage showed Rahman lifting the suitcase onto a metal barrier by the River Lea and pushing it into the water.

"There is no dispute that Suma Begum was in that suitcase - placed there by the defendant," Ledward said.