"I put both my hands around her neck."
A husband sobbed as he told a court how he strangled his wife, stuffed her body into a suitcase and then threw it into a river “in a panic”.
Aminan Rahman is accused of murdering Suma Begum at their home in East London on April 29, 2023.
The Old Bailey heard he was arguing with Ms Begum about her TikTok relationship with Shahin Miah.
Ms Begum moved to the UK in 2020 after marrying Rahman over the phone and their children were aged two and four months old when she died.
On February 6, 2023, Ms Begum video-called her lover, saying Rahman had attacked her and showed him marks on her neck.
Rahman told the court he had seen his wife hitting their two-year-old son.
He said Ms Begum had earlier threatened that she would drink bleach to kill their unborn child.
Rahman said he had never attacked his son but had seen Ms Begum hit him on two occasions.
He knew Ms Begum was going to leave him for Mr Miah and that she had moved to Leeds with the children.
On the night of the killing, Rahman said his wife then demanded £50,000 from him and then took his phone and called Mr Miah.
Rahman said: “He swore at me in indecent language, he used words like old, aged, son of a wh***, and after hearing those words I was nervous and also scared because I’m not used to this kind of language.
“I said ‘Suma, how have you become so bad, you’ve called him in front of me and asking me for money, have you gone that low?”
He claimed his wife kicked their son before picking up a knife.
As the video call to Mr Miah went on, Rahman said he grabbed his wife to stop her from attacking their son.
He said: “I thought if she grabbed him she might throw him out the window.
“I put both my hands around her neck. She dropped to the floor. I was shocked. I was panicking.
“Then I picked up the phone and I called Miah back and said: ‘Because of you this has happened.”
Jurors saw footage of the video call with Ms Begum lying lifeless in the background with her son crying next to her.
Rahman said: “I was saying whatever happened today, you are responsible for that.”
On realising his wife was dead, he claimed:
“I got scared, I got panicked. I took my son next door. I had no intention to cause her any harm.”
Rahman then put his wife’s body into the suitcase and threw it into the River Lea.
He said: “I don’t know what I was thinking. I was panicking so much. I don’t know how and why I did it.”
Rahman said he thought about calling the police but he did not know the address he was at and “I wouldn’t be able to explain everything”.
Rahman denies murder and assault but admits preventing a lawful burial.
The trial continues.
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