Mumtahina Jannat, 29,
strangled in her east London home
Mumtahina Jannat was killed by her abusive husband, Abdul Kadir, on July 5, 2011. Kadir, 49, was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment, to serve a minimum of 17 years.
Mumtahina, known as Ruma, was 16 when she married the wealthy Kadir in Bangladesh, but from their wedding night until her death, she suffered near continual abuse. They moved to the UK in 2002.
“She had such a sweet demeanor. She wanted to be surrounded by books,” said Onjali Rauf, Ruma’s niece.
Kadir became infuriated by her independence, and Ruma confided to her family that he had drugged, beaten and raped her. She was forced to give up a college course and driving lessons. Shortly after their second child was born, Kadir kicked her in the stomach after a caesarean section, causing the stitches to open up.
Struggling with pressures of “family honor,” Ruma endured abuse for years, but when he turned his violence toward her children, she sought help and fled to a refuge in 2005. With an injunction in place, she tried to build a new life.
“She was so proud to get her citizenship certificate in the UK and felt it was her first step towards becoming an educated woman,” Onjali said.
However, Kadir did not let go, and a three-year battle over his contact with the children wore her down. Every time she made a renewed effort to break free, he would threaten her family or use the children to get back into her life.
In an attempt to rid herself of Kadir, Ruma applied for sole custody of the children.
She told the judge: “I’m scared he will kill me.”
The judge said she was being silly.
“Ruma gave up then, she just lost hope,” Onjali said.
Kadir was able to force his way back into her home. The abuse continued and in early 2011, Ruma made her final bid for freedom, telling him he could not return. Two days later Ruma was seen dropping her daughter off at school.
An hour and a half later, Kadir rang his brother to say: “I’m in trouble.”
Ruma had been strangled with her own scarf.
Kadir denied murder, saying the death had been accidental. A jury took less than an hour to return a guilty verdict.
Samantha Sykes, 18,
stabbed to death in Wakefield
Samantha Sykes, 18, and Kimberley Frank, 17, were killed on March 9, 2012 in an apartment in Wakefield. Ahmad Otak was found guilty of their murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Otak came to the UK from Afghanistan to claim asylum in 2007. He said he was 15 and was placed in a children’s home, where he met sisters Elisa and Kimberley Frank, who were then 13 and 12.
Elisa and Otak formed an on/off relationship that continued when they both left the home.
Little is known about Otak’s past in Afghanistan, but in the UK, he was controlling and violent.
He made repeated threats to Elisa that, if she ever left him, he would kill her, her family and friends. He regularly carried a knife and his girlfriend was too frightened to report the abuse to the police.
Her friend, Sykes, was not intimidated. Growing up in a secure family home, Sykes was independent and feisty, and when Elisa left Otak for the first time in 2011 and he threatened to throw acid in her face, sew up her mouth and gasoline-bomb her mother’s house, Sykes reported Otak to the police and to the UK Border Agency.
“But nobody ever challenged Otak about his behavior,” her mother, Julie Warren-Sykes, said.
Elisa left Otak in February 2012. On the day of the murders, she had asked him to return her possessions. Realizing the relationship really had ended, he bought a carving knife and went to Elisa’s home.
As he entered, he asked Elisa if she would go back to him and when she answered: “Definitely not,” he attacked Kimberley.
At one point he stood over the dying woman, and laughed, licking blood from the knife and spitting it on her body.
Otak then made Elisa telephoned Sykes, asking her to come to the apartment to help. When she arrived and came into the hallway, Otak set upon her with the knife, using such force that a rib was split and her neck was cut, severing the jugular and carotid artery.
After the killings, Otak took Elisa hostage, driving to Dover in an effort to escape to France. He was arrested when another asylum seeker raised the alarm.
The Serious Case Review into Kimberley Frank’s murder raised concerns about the absence of a coordinated agency response.
“There were lots of opportunities that were missed, and it’s likely that, had appropriate action taken place, these murders could have been prevented,” Warren-Sykes said.
Joanna Simpson, 46, battered to death in Ascot
Joanna Simpson was killed by her estranged husband, Robert Brown, in her home in 2010. Brown was convicted of manslaughter in 2011 and is serving a 26-year sentence.
Simpson studied business at Bath University before embarking on a successful career in marketing. She met Brown, a British Airways pilot, in 1998 and, after a short romance, they married.
Simpson quickly regretted the decision.
“Jo phoned me from her honeymoon and she knew she’d made a mistake,” her mother, Diana Parkes, said.
The couple had two children and lived in Ascot. However, the relationship was unhappy.
“Jo was loving and generous, everybody loved her — except her husband. Brown was cold, arrogant, rude,” Parkes said. “He isolated her and monitored her movements.”
In 2007, Brown threatened to kill Simpson, putting a knife to her throat. He claimed, wrongly, that she was having an affair.
“He said: ‘If you ever tell anyone, it will be the worse for you.’ Jo was too scared to tell the police,” Parkes said.
Simpson obtained an injunction and started divorce proceedings, though she continued to live in fear. She was well-off and the couple had signed a prenuptial agreement.
During the divorce, Brown claimed for £800,000 (US$1.2 million at current exchange rates), having refused Jo’s offer of £500,000. In October 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that the prenuptials were legally enforceable.
Parkes believed that sealed her daughter’s fate: “He killed her for greed.”
On Oct 31, 2010, Brown drove their children back to Simpson’s after a visit. He took a hammer in a bag and, allowed into her home, killed her with it. Their children could hear the blows. Brown put her body into the back of his car, took the CCTV from the house and buried her in a grave in Windsor Great Park.
The next day he called the police, claiming they had had a “domestic argument.”
Brown admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, but denied murder, leaving Simpson’s family feeling cheated because they believed evidence that he had planned to kill her was strong.
“There was a massive miscarriage of justice. Brown told lies, the jury felt sorry for him, whereas Jo was portrayed as evil, I didn’t recognize her. Jo’s children have been failed,” Parkes said.
She is determined that her daughter’s death should not be forgotten.
Her family and friends set up The Joanna Simpson Foundation to campaign for changes to public policy and raise funds to improve the care of children affected by domestic abuse and homicide.
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