A fatal mistake that led to bloody murder of a young mother: How wannabe influencer tracked down his wife who was in hiding… before slaughtering her in the street

A wannabe influencer who callously murdered his wife as she pushed their baby in his pram abused his social media knowhow to exploit a fatal error after she fled his violent, controlling behaviour.

Tech-savvy Habibur Masum appeared to be embracing life in Britain after moving from Bangladesh to study for a masters in digital marketing in 2022.

But behind closed doors he was an aggressive bully who had already confessed to a doctor that he felt like killing Kulsuma Akter.

He subjected her to a campaign of abuse, banning her from wearing make-up or even drinking tea.

In November 2023 the obsessive former marketing student flew into a rage over an innocuous text message the 27-year-old had received from a bakery colleague asking if she was working.

Chillingly he warned her: ‘I am going to murder you, and the police will be taking me’

Consumed by unfounded jealousy, Masum held a knife to her throat as she clutched their newborn child in a desperate act of self-preservation.

After a worried relative called police, he was arrested and charged with assault and making threats to kill.

Kulsuma Akter, 27, pictured with husband Habibur Masum, 26, dressed in traditional finery at their wedding in Oldham

Masum, who is from the city of Sylhet in eastern Bangladesh, studied for a masters in digital marketing at the University of Bedfordshire, and videos show him celebrating at his graduation

Habibur Masum is a wannabe blogger who previously posted videos of shopping hauls in Primark

CCTV of Habibur Masum, 26, (centre) on a bus prior to him attacking his wife

CCTV shows Masum, 26, calmly walking away after he attacked his wife

But despite a Crown Prosecution Service lawyer urging magistrates to lock him up on remand, he was granted bail on condition he stayed away from Ms Akter and their Oldham home.

Fearing for her life, Ms Akter and the couple’s baby son were given sanctuary at a refuge in a secret location.

A furious Masum vowed to track her down, taking sinister advantage of his digital skills to stalk and then fatally dupe her online.

First he took advantage of her failure to switch off the location on her Snapchat account to establish she was living in Bradford.

Ms Akter reported the new death threats to police, and arrangements were put in place to rehouse her.

Meanwhile after taunting her that he had found the refuge, Masum laid a false trail to trick her into believing he was on holiday in Spain.

Believing it was safe to take their son out amongst the Saturday afternoon shoppers on April 6 last year, to her horror Ms Akter – who was due to be rehomed for her own safety two days later – was instead confronted by Masum.

In a brazen daylight attack of barbaric ferocity which shocked the nation he repeatedly plunged the blade into his screaming partner, stabbing her more than 25 times before slitting her throat.

Online, Masum presented an image of himself as an enthusiastic traveller who enjoys discovering new cultures 

One video shows him admiring the wide range of of Bangladeshi made clothes in Primark before filming a children’s offer and leaving with two full bags

The killer was filmed dancing at an event in a TikTok video shared last year 

After the ‘cold-blooded’ killing, callous Masum was captured on CCTV grinning as he boarded a bus to make his escape, having left his wife for dead and abandoning their baby in the street.

Police launched a manhunt and Masum – who had shaved off his beard – was traced two days later after seeking treatment for ‘lockjaw’ 170 miles away at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire.

Masum, 26, pleaded guilty to his wife’s manslaughter and possession of a bladed article earlier this month but denied murder on the grounds he had lost control.

But yesterday a jury at Bradford Crown Court unanimously convicted him of murder after deliberating for less than six hours.

Masum – who was also found guilty of stalking, assault and threats to kill – wiped away tears in the dock before being remanded back into custody ahead of his sentencing.

Despite two police forces being made aware of the threats Ms Akter had been receiving, a probe by the Independent Office for Police Conduct found there had been no breach of professional standards.

But campaigners said her brutal killing could have been prevented, saying the latest example of a woman murdered by her abusive partner once again underlined the need for change.

‘Her death was preventable, and the loss of Kulsuma is a stark reminder of the deadly consequences of honour-based abuse and coercive control,’ a spokeswoman for charity Karma Nirvana said.

Masum giving a peace sign as he celebrates his graduation from the University of Bedfordshire 

A mugshot issued by West Yorkshire Police as they launched a manhunt for Masum following Ms Akter’s brutal murder in April 2024 – while on the run he shaved off his beard in a vain bid to avoid capture

‘We must do more to protect women like her.’

The organisation – which helps victims of honour-based violence – said her tragic killing was a ‘stark reminder’ of the need to give greater protection to those fleeing abuse.

Bradford West Labour MP Naz Shah said violence against women was ‘a cancer that needs eradicating’.

‘Kulsuma came to Bradford trying to find safety and her attacker found her,’ she told the BBC.

‘To keep women safe we need to change the culture of misogyny and domestic violence.’

With his slick social media skills and confident persona, Masum had appeared to be embracing life in Britain.

Growing up in the city of Sylhet, Masum is understood to have studied English literature in Bangladesh, working for a wedding planning firm and as a content writer for a digital marketing agency.

In 2022 the self-styled ‘adventure lover’ began studying for a masters in digital marketing at the University of Bedfordshire, sharing vlogs about life in the UK.

One shows him admiring the wide range of Bangladesh-made clothes in Primark before trying on a range of winter jumpers.

In another, Masum is seen filming himself as snow falls, warning his paltry 14 YouTube subscribers not too ‘stay out in the cold too long’ as they could get chest problems.

Masum is understood to have studied English literature in Bangladesh and worked for a wedding planning firm before moving to the UK to study

Masum studied for a masters in digital marketing at the University of Bedfordshire before working for a creative marketing agency

Floral tributes left outside a shop in Westgate, Bradford, close to where Kulsuma was stabbed to death

In further clips he looks every inch the proud dad, including one to his 4,300 Facebook followers on how to prepare a hospital bag for ‘your newborn baby’.

Yet behind the carefully crafted image, Masum was a violent and possessive bully who controlled and terrorised Ms Akter, who had followed him from Bangladesh and spoke little English.

More than a year before murdering her, Masum had told a doctor he ‘felt like he would kill her’.

He stopped her from wearing make-up and would check her phone to see who she had been talking to, relatives said.

Ms Akter had to ask permission from her husband before going out and even stopped her drinking tea, because he didn’t like the drink.

During one argument he divorced her under Islamic law by ‘saying it out loud three times’, but later said she was confused and he had only said it twice, his trial heard.

In July 2023 – shortly before their son was born – she went to stay with her brother because of Masum’s controlling behaviour, leading him to threaten to harm himself with a knife.

She later returned to the flat, with Masum posting photographs of himself cradling their newborn son.

But things ‘got worse after the baby was born’, her sister-in-law Minara Begum said.

It culminated in the jealous rage which would see Masum charged with making threats to kill.

The scene Westgate, Bradford, after Ms Akter was brutally stabbed to death in broad daylight while pushing her son in a pram in April 2024

Kulsuma Akter’s mother, Monwara Begum (pictured) tearfully told MailOnline her ‘heart is broken’ after her daughter’s death

Kulsuma Akter’s cousin, Aftab Miah (pictured), paid tribute to the mother, calling her a ‘lovely girl’ who was ‘always smiling’

Turning his tech knowhow to the most sinister use imaginable, Masum established where she had sought sanctuary via the location on her Snapchat account.

On April 2 she showed her social worker a Snapchat message he had sent showing an image of the refuge.

With it he had written: ‘If I had any wish to kill you, I could have from the first day.

‘You do not know what you have lost but one day you will understand.

‘Nobody will love you like I do.’

Then just over a week before the murder he had shared a video on his YouTube channel, vlogging his trip from Manchester to Barcelona.

In reality the clip was part of a sinister scheme to trick Ms Akter into believing he was out of the country and that she would be safe to carry on with daily life. 

Her killing has left her grieving family back in Bangladesh ’completely devastated’ and struggling to comprehend how she had been taken from them in such brutal fashion halfway around the world.

Her cousin, Aftab Miah, told the Daily Mail that Ms Akter – the youngest of five siblings – was ‘a lovely girl and had a great personality’.

‘She was always smiling and liked to make people laugh.’

Detective Chief Inspector Stacey Atkinson of West Yorkshire Police said: ‘Kulsuma suffered a brutal attack in broad daylight whilst her baby son was in his pram.

‘Masum carried out the murder then calmly walked away as if nothing had happened.’

IOPC director Emily Barry said: ‘This was a harrowing case which caused widespread understandable concern.

‘It was appropriate we carried out a thorough investigation into the relevant contact between police and Ms Akter.’

Masum will be sentenced next month.