Man jailed for killing his niece for refusing to get married

• Khan was sentenced to life in prison for killing his 20-year-old niece.
• And dumping her body in a waste area after she refused to be coerced into marriage.
• Somaiya Begum was murdered by her uncle, who went to extreme lengths to cover up his crime.

A man was sentenced to life in prison for killing his 20-year-old niece and dumping her body in a waste area after she refused to be coerced into marriage.

Somaiya Begum, 53, was murdered at her home by Mohammed Taroos Khan, who then left her body covered in a rug.

On Fitzwilliam Street in Bradford, 11 days after she vanished, the body of the Leeds Beckett University student was discovered.

Khan was sentenced to a minimum of 25 years in prison at Bradford Crown Court.

Jurors were informed during the trial that Miss Begum was under a Forced Marriage Protection Order at the time of her death as a result of her father’s attempts to coerce her into wedlock “under threat of violence.”

After her parents received the injunction, she moved in with another one of her uncles in Binnie Street.

Khan was shown on CCTV removing Miss Begum’s body from his car and putting it on a waste land after attacking her in her home on June 25 of last year.

The video that was shown to the jury showed him drive up to Mill Lane, then getting out and removing something long and light in color.

Khan, of Thornbury Road, Bradford, who denied murder, admitting to trying to destroy Ms. Begum’s cellphone and disposing of her body in an effort to obstruct justice.

He was given a concurrent five-year sentence for this.

A 4 in (10.7 cm) metal spike that had pierced Miss Begum’s lung was discovered during the post-mortem investigation.

Sentencing Khan to life in prison on Wednesday, Mr. Justice Garnham said: “It is not possible to identify a motive for this dreadful attack by you on an innocent young woman.

“It is said you did not support her forced marriage to the cousin in Pakistan.

“It is said you did not share the view of your brother, Yaseen, about the role of women or the obligation of Somaiya to obey her father.

“Moreover, it is pure speculation to consider whether this murder was part of some appalling family agreement.”

He told the court: “All that matters for present purposes is that the jury have found you guilty of the heinous crime of murder.

“I decline to speculate on your motive and I reject the prosecution’s suggestion that I should treat this as any form of so-called honor killing.”

Det Supt Marc Bowes, from West Yorkshire Police, said Miss Begum was killed in a “vicious and sustained attack”.

He said Khan’s disposal of his niece’s body was “despicable” and “can only be described as beyond belief”.

Mr. Bowes said: “Somaiya was a bright young woman who was studying to get a degree, had a part-time job to support herself and was happy and content with home life.

“She had her whole life ahead of her and it was cruelly cut short by her uncle, someone who is meant to love, care and protect her.

“Khan subjected Somaiya to a horrendous attack for reasons only known to him.

“Khan went to extreme lengths to cover up his crime; he dumped her body in wasteland, showing complete disregard and disrespect for human life, with the hope that her body would never be found.”

Asked why he thought Khan had killed Miss Begum, the officer said: “I don’t think we will ever know. The only person that knows that is Khan himself.”

Mr. Bowes stated that he was aware of the impending domestic homicide study of the circumstances surrounding the murder.

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