A Bangladeshi national murdered his estranged wife and young children in a row over his immigration status in the UK, a court heard on Thursday (17).
Mohammed Abdul Shakur, 46, killed his wife Juli Begum, 26, and their two children — Anika and Thanha Khanum, aged five and six — on New Year’s Day in 2007.
Police were notified of the murder after Begum’s sister became worried and told authorities she had not seen the family since New Year’s Eve.
Officers went to the home in Nelson Street, and found the bodies of Begum and her two children.
Shakur fled the country days after the murder, but was extradited in April this year to face trial at the Old Bailey in London.
Jurors heard that Shakur had threatened his wife, telling: “If you don’t correct my visa and you don’t make me legal to stay in this country then I will kill you and kill your whole family.”
Prosecutor David Spens said Begum led an insular life and travelled to Bangladesh in 1999 to marry her cousin. She was just 19 at the time.
A year late, Shakur came to live with Begum in Poplar, east London, and theirs was not a happy marriage.
Spens said: “The marriage between Ms Begum and the defendant was not a happy one.
“It was beset by arguments about the defendant’s immigration status and his financial contribution towards the family outgoings.”
Begum feared that Shakur would leave her and marry someone else if he were to obtain a right to remain in the country.
Spens said: “Juli was unwilling to progress his immigration application, this was a source of friction and they argued.
“The defendant’s immigration status and his financial contribution remained unresolved at the time of Juli’s death.
“It is the prosecution case that what caused the defendant to kill his wife is most likely to have been an argument about one or both of these issues.”
Shakur has denied three counts of murder.
