Solicitor jailed for murdering wife

ELN:  Isle of Dogs solicitor Mohammed Rahman, 32, was

today given a life sentence for murdering his wife last Christmas, the day after her thirty-second birthday. He will have to serve at least 18 years in prison.

When Jasmin Chowdhury tackled her husband over whether he was having an affair with another woman, he flew into a rage and attacked her with a weightlifting bar.  Rahman then sent various text messages to members of her family. His message to her sister is reported to have read, “Come take your sister’s dead body from my flat.”  He followed this up with a second message: “Get her out of my flat now before I kick the crap out of her.”  He then drove away from their flat in Cassilis Road, leaving his dying wife, who had serious head injuries, on their bed.

Family members contacted the police, who arrived on the scene in time to arrest Rahman in a nearby street.  The police forced their way into the flat and found Ms Chowdhury, breathing with difficulty.  She was rushed to the Royal London Hospital, where she died of her injuries three days later.  Rahman initially denied injuring his wife.  He told the police that she was emotionally unstable and prone to self-harming.

Rahman and Ms Chowdhury had met thirteen years ago, when they worked in a supermarket. They married in a religious ceremony, after which Rahman went on to qualify as a solicitor, specialising in immigration and asylum law, and had worked at Tower Hamlets Law Centre. Ms Chowdhury went on to work in the NHS. 

Rahman had beaten his wife before, but there had been no report to the police and she had passed off black eyes, broken fingers and bruises on her upper body as accidental injuries.  The Court heard that he had also been unfaithful to her over the years of their marriage.  Ms Chowdhury had told friends and family that she was unhappy and had mentioned the violence to some of them.

The Judge, Timothy Pontius, told Rahman that he had no doubt that Rahman was an intelligent, educated man, but also that he had no doubt that Rahman had been violent, both verbally and physically, to his wife on several previous occasions.  Rahman’s Defence Counsel, Jeremy Benson QC, commented that Rahman had thrown away all the hard work he had put in to become a solicitor.  Rahman wept as he heard the sentence.

After the sentence was passed, Ms Chowdhury’s family spoke about how the loss of a kind and caring sister had devastated the family and how they felt that justice had now been done.

The police urged victims of domestic violence always to report incidents to the police before matters escalate.

Speak up before it is too late
•If you are suffering from domestic violence, the police advise that you should always report incidents to them.  Even if you believe you can cope, matters can escalate before you know it and when you least expect it.  Help and support is available to you.
•If you know someone who is suffering from domestic violence, encourage them to seek help.  A perpetrator can go on to attack other victims, and even to kill.
For information on local domestic violence services contact the Council’s domestic violence team on 0800-279 5434 or email domesticviolence@towerhamlets.gov.uk.  In an emergency, dial 999.