Man allegedly killed estranged wife, daughters because she 'refused to progress his immigration application'
A chef is has been accused of murdering his estranged wife and their two young daughters, five and six, following an argument over his immigration status in Britain.
Mohammed Abdul Shakur, 46, originally from Bangladesh, married his cousin, 19-year-old Juli Begum, in 1999 after she traveled from the UK to the southeast Asian country for an arranged marriage with him, according to the Daily Mail.
In 2000, she was sponsored for a one-year visa and Shakur came to live with her and her mother in Poplar, east London. They had two children: Anika and Thanha. Three years later, their marriage broke down, and Begum moved to East Ham, London, with the children.
Despite their separation, the couple continued to argue about Shakur's immigration status, and things seemingly came to a head on January 10, 2007.
Begum's sister had become worried after not seeing her since New Year's Eve and notified the police. The police went to her house and found her body along with the bodies of her children.
During their investigation, they accessed CCTV footage which seemed to show Shakur walking with his wife and children from and to the area near the house on January 1, which was the last day anyone had seen or heard from them.
Their suspicion was compounded further when they found that, the next day, Shakur had gone to the Bangladeshi High Commission for an emergency passport and taken a one-way flight to Bangladesh.
The authorities had been fighting for his extradition since. In April, they succeeded when India, where he was found to be living, agreed to send him back to Britain to face justice.
This past week, at his trial at the Old Bailey, Prosecutor David Spens QC told jurors how Shakur's immigration status had always been an issue with the couple.
"The marriage between Begum and the defendant was not a happy one," Spens said. "It was beset by arguments about the defendant's immigration status and his financial contribution towards the family outgoings. Juli was unwilling to progress his immigration application, this was a source of friction and they argued."
He said Shakur allegedly told the victim, "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."
He said that Shakur told her he married her only so he could come to London and send money to Bangladesh and that she feared he would leave her and marry someone else if he somehow managed to stay in the country.
Shakur has denied three counts of murder and, when asked about why he fled the country, claimed his father was ill and had died, and that his mother was sick too.
The trial continues.