Bradford stabbing: Man arrested on suspicion of Kulsuma Akter murder

A man suspected of stabbing to death a woman as she pushed her baby in a pram on a Bradford street has been arrested.

Habibur Masum was detained early on Tuesday morning following the death of 27-year-old Kulsuma Akter on Saturday.

Detectives said they had arrested a 25-year-old man in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.

The arrest followed a nationwide manhunt for Mr Masum, after Ms Akter's death in the city centre attack. Her baby was unharmed.

Det Ch Insp Stacey Atkinson, of West Yorkshire Police, said the arrest followed a "tragic incident in which a mother has lost her life in the most horrific of circumstances".

"We understand that this has caused a considerable amount of concern in the local community," she added.

Ms Akter was attacked at about 15:20 BST on Saturday as she pushed her baby in the pram along Westgate in Bradford city centre.

Emergency services were called, but Ms Akter was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later.

On Monday, both Greater Manchester Police and the West Yorkshire force said they had referred themselves to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) as they had previous contact with the victim.

Mr Masum was bailed by magistrates in November after being charged with assaulting and threatening to kill Ms Akter, offences which he had denied.

Court documents show Mr Masum, who is from Oldham, was charged with threatening to kill Ms Akter on 24 November and assaulting her on 23 November. Both offences were alleged to have happened in Manchester.

Police said on Monday they had also arrested a 23-year-old man in Cheshire on suspicion of assisting an offender. He remained in custody, a spokesperson confirmed.

Ms Akter's cousin Aftab Miah said she had been "polite and humble" and "made the people around her laugh".

He said that her family were "devastated", with her mother in Bangladesh distraught, adding when he spoke to Ms Akter's mother, she had "never stopped crying" and was "all the time mentioning her name".

"All we want is justice, nothing else," he added.

Naz Shah, MP for Bradford West, said she was "shocked and angry" to hear Mr Masum had been on bail for previous offences.

"I appreciate West Yorkshire Police and Greater Manchester Police have referred themselves to the IOPC, but there is a sense of 'why does this happen?'

"Everybody's still in shock, even days on. We need justice for Kulsuma, really."

Churches and mosques across Bradford have been opened to allow people to grieve and pray, the assistant curate of Bradford Cathedral said on Monday.

In February, Newsnight revealed that nine women had died since 2019 after having previously reported domestic abuse to West Yorkshire.

Updated figures broadcast by Newsnight on Monday, obtained through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request, indicated that 18 women had died since 2018, following contact with West Yorkshire Police over domestic abuse-related matters.

In response, West Yorkshire Police said that it had delivered additional training to officers on dealing with domestic abuse.

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