A man nicknamed ‘Nasty’ has been jailed for life for punching a deaf woman and leaving her to die in the street in east London.
Duane Owusu was sentenced at the Old Bailey to a minimum of 16 years and six months in prison for the murder of 27-year-old Zahwa Mukhtar.
The 36-year-old threw aspiring accountant Ms Mukhtar out of an overcrowded Mercedes in Romford, before punching her in a “wholly unprovoked” attack.
Rather than summoning help, Owusu then got back in the car and fled, leaving Ms Mukhtar to die in the street at 4.30am, having suffered a fatal head injury.
On leaving the scene in Chadwell Heath, Owusu and his group were stopped and searched by police a short distance away.
Ms Mukhtar had never met Owusu or his group before joining them during a night out in the early hours of August 16, 2025.
"This was a senseless murder of a young woman who should have been able to enjoy a night out without fear for her life, and I would like to express my sincere condolences to the family of Zahwa Mukhtar," Roy Pershad, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said.
The incident was captured on CCTV and witnessed by Owusu’s friends.
Witness Paige Allen told the court how Ms Mukhtar pleaded with Owusu to stop before he landed the fatal blow.
“He was just rage. He looked like a monster. His behaviour was just wrong. She just fell. Just fell backwards.
“I went to help her but he screamed at me to get in the car,” she told jurors.
At trial, Owusu denied punching Ms Mukhtar and claimed he only pushed her away to try and “de-escalate” the situation.
Judge Richard Marks KC told the court the only person Owusu care about in the moments after the attack was himself.
Speaking to the defendant, the judge said Owusu “rallied” against the driver wanting to turn back, which led to the police pulling the car over.
“You did so because it was absolutely clear the only person about whom you were in any way concerned at the time was yourself," said Judge Marks.
He told Owusu he accepted he did not know Zahwa Mukhtar had been fatally injured, but added that "the point is that you couldn't have cared less".
"A moment's investigation would have revealed that she was lying unconscious. Whatever may have been her condition, you were content to leave her there, flat out on her back as a result of a blow from you," said the judge.
In a statement read to the court, the victim’s brother Jamaluddin Mukhtar said: “Zahwa Mukhtar was a daughter, granddaughter, sister and niece, a remarkable young woman whose life was shaped by both hardship and extraordinary perseverance.”
He said his sister became deaf at the age of three after contracting meningitis but never allowed her disability to “hold her back”.
She was known for her “constant smile and infectious laughter” and had always encouraged others to believe in themselves, he said.
He told the court her “warmth, kindness and belief in the potential of others” are qualities that have made a lasting impression on those who knew her.
In mitigation, Michael Borrelli KC said Owusu was “deeply sorry” for the pain caused to Ms Mukhtar’s family.
