Latest news with #domesticviolence
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
LGBTQ+ support option on 988 crisis hotline to end due to budget cuts
The 988 crisis hotline has been used more than 13 million times in the last three years, providing critical mental health support to Americans in need. Now, a specialized service for LGBTQ+ individuals is being eliminated. When callers press option 3 on the 988 hotline, they're connected with representatives specifically trained to help members of the LGBTQ+ community. This service will end on July 1 due to budget cuts from the Trump administration. A Baltimore woman who used the service after experiencing domestic violence shared her experience with WMAR. She requested anonymity for privacy reasons. READ MORE:
Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Chilling moment 'jealous' YouTuber stalks his wife to domestic abuse shelter before brutally stabbing her to death as she pushed their son in pram - as he's convicted of her murder
A 'violent, jealous, controlling' husband who stabbed his wife to death as she pushed their seven-month-old baby in a pram has been convicted of murder. 'Smiling killer' Habibur Masum, 26, tracked down Kulsuma Akter, 27, to a women's refuge after she forgot to turn off her location on Snapchat. He then confronted her on a street in Bradford, West Yorkshire last April, where in a savage broad daylight attack, he repeatedly plunged the blade into his screaming partner, stabbing her more than 25 times before slitting her throat. Afterwards, 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. The jury heard obsessive Masum banned his wife from wearing makeup, was constantly checking her mobile phone and stopped her drinking tea, because he didn't like the drink. Her killing came just five months after 'cold-blooded' Masum had chillingly warned his wife 'I am going to murder you'. Masum, of Burnley, already pleaded guilty to manslaughter and possession of a bladed article, but had denied a charge of murder. However, a jury at Bradford Crown Court today convicted the 'abusive' 26-year-old of murder. He was also convicted of assault, making threats to kill, and stalking, and now faces life in prison. Masum wiped away tears in the dock after a jury returned a unanimous verdict following five hours and 40 minutes of deliberation. During his trial, the court heard how the couple met and married in Bangladesh, and came to the UK in 2022 after Masum obtained a student visa and enrolled on a masters course to study marketing. But the couple's relationship soon broke down in November 2023 after 18 months of marriage, which had seen Masum making threats to kill his partner in July of that year. Today it can be revealed Masum would have been locked up less than four months before the murder if warnings by the CPS had been heeded. On November 26, 2023 he was charged with assault by beating and making threats to kill against Ms Akter at their then home in Oldham. Two days earlier the jealous student had come at his terrified wife armed with a knife after flying into a rage over an innocuous text message she had received from a colleague. Masum demanded 'tell me what your relationship is with him, or I will kill you' and put the knife to her throat as she cradled their baby. Frightened for her life and fearing he would cut her throat, she clutched her son to her in a desperate hope that he wouldn't attack her. The day before, in what the trial heard was a chilling forewarning of what was to come, he had told her: 'I am going to murder you, and the police will be taking me.' Masum was arrested and his wife was allocated a social worker, confiding to her she feared he was going to kill her. When he appeared from police custody at Tameside Magistrates' Court on November 27, 2023, entering not guilty pleas, the Crown Prosecution Service argued he should remain locked up. But fatefully magistrates instead granted him bail on condition he did not contact Ms Akter and another person or go to her address. She and her son were placed in a refuge in what was meant to be a secret location in Bradford. Meanwhile her estranged husband - a free man due to the court's decision - dedicated himself to tracking her down. On March 28, 2024, West Yorkshire Police were informed she'd been receiving death threats. Officers passed 'intelligence' to colleagues in Greater Manchester on March 31, the Independent Office for Police Conduct said today. But on April 6 - two days before she was due to be rehoused - and believing her estranged husband was in Spain, Ms Atker 'felt safe to leave the refuge'. However, at 3pm Ms Akter - who was walking with a friend while pushing her seven-month-old son in a pram - was shocked to be confronted by Masum, Bradford Crown Court heard. CCTV footage played in court showed Masum walking with Ms Akter until he stopped her, then spinning her and the pram around before pulling a knife from his jacket. Prosecutor Steven Wood KC said: 'He grabs Kulsuma and pushes her into a wall, stabbing her to the body. 'You will see that Kulsuma then goes to the ground only for the defendant to launch a ferocious and deadly attack. 'When the defendant had finished stabbing her, as a final act of sheer gratuitous violence, he kicks Kulsuma before moving away, but not before ensuring that he disposed of the knife.' The court heard Ms Akter suffered multiple stab wounds to her body and face including a wound to the neck which partly cut her windpipe and severed her left jugular vein. Mr Wood said her killing represented 'cold-blooded, calculated, pre-meditated murder'. During his closing speech on Monday, the prosecutor told jurors the defendant appeared to revel in his crime, grinning after he left his wife dying. Jurors were shown Masum walking through Bradford after the attack, with Mr Woods saying there were no signs of him being 'distressed', as he had claimed in his evidence. Mr Wood told the court a close-up of Masum getting on a bus showed him smiling, which 'removed all possible doubt' about his state of mind. 'There were no tears, there was no distress. Perhaps, members of the jury, the smile you can clearly see form as he gets on that bus is as a result of him thinking at that point he's getting away. The smiling killer.' Mr Wood said that although Masum was suffering from depression at the time, this did not provide an explanation for the savage slaughter of his partner. 'It was not his depression which caused him to kill Kulsuma, it was his other longstanding personality traits of controlling behaviour, jealousy and paranoia. She had rejected him. She had to die,' he said. 'And were there any residual thought that this was about seeing his son - having left his wife literally in the gutter, bleeding to death, he leaves his son alone. 'He could so easily have walked away with him. But he knew if he walked away with that pram it would increase his chances of getting caught. 'But he very quickly got himself out of the area and down to Aylesbury. 'In the meantime he changed his appearance - shaved his beard, cut his hair, changed his clothing.' Mr Wood said the marriage between Masum and Ms Akter was 'an abusive relationship characterised by his jealousy, possessiveness and controlling behaviour with violence being both used and threatened'. 'He is a man who resorts to violence... and when he resorts to actual violence, it's with a knife,' he added. Earlier, the court heard evidence from Ms Akter's sister-in-law, who said Masum had stopped his wife wearing make-up and would regularly check her phone to see who she was talking to. A statement from Minara Begum read in court explained Ms Akter had to ask permission from her husband before going out. She said they 'both seemed happy' and Masum appeared 'quite obsessed with' Ms Akter, who started working at Park Cakes in Oldham. Ms Begum added: 'Masum was not too keen on Kulsuma working but she would worry about paying the bills. 'I told her she could enhance her beauty even more with the right make-up ... Masum would get jealous if he saw photos and told her not to do make-up any more, so she didn't.' Jurors heard how arguments soon escalated to a 'more serious level' before Ms Akter tried to escape, going to stay with her brother and sister-in-law at one point. Ms Begum said: 'He kept messaging her telling he was going to do crazy things because she was with us and not at home, and kept asking her where the kitchen knife was. 'After this happened I told Masum his behaviour was not right and their relationship should not be this way. 'Masum did not like this coming from a woman or me speaking to him this way. He did not like me very much.' Jurors heard Ms Akter returned to Masum, but arguments between them 'got worse after the baby was born' and Ms Akter 'always complained he wasn't helping her with the baby and always expected his food to be prepared after work'. However, warnings of the explosive nature of the couple's relationship were seen right at the beginning of their marriage. Jurors heard that more than a year before he murdered his wife, Masum had told a doctor he 'felt like he would kill her'. The trial heard that in August 2022 Masum was found by police at a tram station, where he had stayed all night after an argument with Ms Akter. He was taken to hospital where he told a doctor 'I feel like I would kill her' and said 'when he fights with her he feels like he is going to kill her'. Medical notes showed he 'disclosed thoughts to harm himself and his girlfriend and admitted to carrying a knife while having these thoughts'. Masum told the trial he had never carried a knife in Ms Akter's presence. Asked by his barrister Frida Hussain KC why he had made those comments at the hospital, he replied: 'I said: 'I feel I'm having some mental health issues and I would like to share something with the doctor'... I just wanted to share all that with the doctor.' The defendant, who gave evidence through a Bengali interpreter, told the court the couple had 'occasional disagreements or arguments' about when they should live together and she would 'block him' when she was angry. Masum said: 'I used to feel if I can't be with her I would die.' Masum said during the trial he had taken a knife with him on the day he killed Ms Akter because he intended to stab himself if she did not 'listen to him'. Mr Wood said the 26-year-old's threats of self-harm were 'empty threats', adding: 'He has never made an attempt on his own life, he has never harmed himself. These are examples of his emotional blackmail.' He told jurors that during the fatal attack on Ms Akter, Masum put her on the ground, stabbed her 'many, many' times, kicked her 'as a final insult'' then took hold of the back of her head and cut her throat. Mr Wood said: 'Such a brutal and violent assault by the defendant, culminating in a deliberate cutting of his wife's throat, only points to an intention to kill. That is what he wanted, that is what he did.' Today the IOPC said its investigations into Ms Akter's prior contact with both the Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire forces had found no breaches of professional standards. Its director Emily Barry said: 'Our thoughts remain with Ms Akter's family and friends, who have lost a loved one in tragic circumstances, as well as all those affected by this deeply distressing incident. '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.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Man accused of shooting woman during domestic dispute in Harrison Twp. indicted
Jun. 27—A grand jury indicted a 29-year-old man accused of shooting a woman in the leg and seriously injuring her in Harrison Twp. Caleb Cox was indicted on two counts of felonious assault and one count each of having weapons while under disability and tampering with evidence in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday. On June 18, Cox reportedly pulled out a pistol while involved in a domestic dispute with a woman in Harrison Twp. Fearing Cox would shoot her, the woman curled into the fetal position on the bed, according to Vandalia Municipal Court records. "Cox shot the victim in the outer right thigh, causing the bullet to travel up into her abdomen due to her laying in the fetal position in front of Cox," an affidavit read. He then reportedly threatened to shoot himself. The woman was afraid Cox would shoot her again before harming himself, so she offered to say she shot herself, according to court records. "The victim called 911 and claimed to have shot herself," the affidavit read. When Montgomery County sheriff's deputies arrived, they found Cox doused in gasoline. The woman was transported to the hospital in critical condition. Witnesses told investigators Cox carried the woman to front porch before going back into the house and jumping from a side window, according to court records. He then allegedly poured gasoline onto his head and body. The pistol believed to be used in the shooting was found in a neighboring lot, according to court documents.
South China Morning Post
5 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
China women-only bar names drinks after inspiring women, including ex-domestic abuse victim
A woman in China known as Auntie Jinjin has captivated social media after she overcame violent domestic abuse and became a cleaner with ambition at a women-only bar in Shanghai. She eventually became a bartender and now has a cocktail named after her. Jinjin's story emerged after a Chinese blogger named Frayeef visited a bar called 'Women's Drinking Society' on May 20 and shared her experience online. Originally from Yunnan province in southwestern China, Jinjin moved to Shanghai after getting married. She worked as a cleaner in bars across the city for more than a decade. Staff at the bar in Shanghai mix cocktails that are named after inspiring women. Photo: Weibo However, her first 10 years in the city were marked by betrayal and domestic violence, leading her to leave her marriage with nothing.
Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE 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. 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. 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. 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 studied for a masters in digital marketing at the University of Bedfordshire before working for a creative marketing agency 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. 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.'
