An obsessed pharmacist who murdered a young female student with a face mask before dumping her body in a locked suitcase has been jailed for life.
Muhammad Arslan, 27, concocted a fantasy that he was engaged to 21-year-old Hina Bashir and they had plans to marry and have children together.
In reality, Ms Bashir had rejected his romantic advances and told Arslan she did not want a relationship.
Arslan had given up his job as a pharmacy manager in Pakistan to pursue Ms Bashir to the UK, where she was studying business management at Coventry University’s London campus.
In a jealous rage, Arslan forced a floral-patterned face mask mask into Ms Bashir to suffocate her after she visited his home in Ilford, east London on July 11 last year.
After the murder, he put her body into a padlocked suitcase, stored it in his bedroom overnight, and took a taxi to a remote area of Upminster the next morning in a bid to hide the remains.
At the Old Bailey on Friday, Arslan was sentenced to life in prison and was ordered to serve at least 20 years in prison.
Judge Richard Marks KC, the Common Serjeant of London, said to Arslan: “You were madly in love with her and wanted to marry her. In my judgment you were obsessed with her.”
He said the evidence shows Arslan’s “unrequited feelings for Hina boiled over and resulted in you taking hold of a face mask and forcing it into the back of her mouth, which led to her collapse and ultimately to her death from asphyxiation.
“At only 43kgs in weight, she was extremely slight in build and you easily overpowered her.”
The judge said he is sure Arslan intended to kill Ms Bashir, before launching a “campaign of lies” to try to get away with murder.
Arslan admitted manslaughter before his trial, claiming he had killed Ms Bashir accidentally while trying to quieten her. However, he was convicted by the jury of murder and perverting the course of justice.
Ms Bashir’s father, Muhammad Bashir Khan, who attended every day of the trial, paid tribute to a “beautiful, bubbly girl” who was “happy and would always make us laugh”.
He said Ms Bashir’s family, including five younger siblings, have been “deeply devastated” by the murder.
Branding Arslan “vicious”, he added: “He showed no remorse and this has added to the pain I am feeling.
“This male didn’t even show her respect after he killed her. Animals would treat my daughter better.”
Ms Bashir was the second young woman to die in Ilford at the hands of a violent man in the space of two weeks, following the fatal attack on Zara Aleena as she walked home alone.
The court heard Arslan and Ms Bashir grew up in the same village in the Faisalabad district of Pakistan.
He was 17-years-old and she was 11 when he befriended her via text message, and later declared: “How wonderful it is that I have found my princess in the house right next to mine.”
Ms Bashir, who had a boyfriend in Pakistan, moved to the UK to study in November 2021, but found herself being pursued by Arslan who enrolled at the University of Essex for a masters degree in data science and applications while working part-time in a warehouse.
Arslan already had masters degree in maths and quantum physics from the University of Faisalabad.
On the night of the murder, Ms Bashir went with friends to Arslan’s flat to collect belongings she had stored there while moving house.
After the murder, Arslan spent hours trawling through her private messages and photographs on her mobile phone.
“The next morning, the defendant set off from his house, dragging behind him a suitcase containing Hina Bashir’s dead body”, said prosecutor Gareth Patterson KC.
“He got a lift from a taxi driver who lived in his house and travelled to an industrial estate by the M25 near Upminster, near a business where he was employed as a warehouse worker.
“He got out of the taxi and dragged his suitcase to the side of a lane where he hid it in some undergrowth. He left the suitcase concealed there in the days that followed.”
When questioned by police, Arslan lied that Ms Bashir had left his home unhurt. He had wiped his number from her phone, and officers then discovered CCTV of him wheeling a suitcase through Upminster.
Ms Bashir’s blood was found on Arslan bedclothes, matching floral face masks were recovered from his home and the taxi driver confirmed taking the killer and his heavy suitcase to the industrial estate where it was dumped.
An examination of his phone revealed the extent of his obsession with Ms Bashir before and after she travelled to the UK. He had repeatedly declared his love for her and reacted with shock on learning she had found someone else.
Officers also found a large number photos of Ms Bashir, including some photoshopped with love hearts and collages of her image.
“The evidence suggests that he was obsessed with her”, said Mr Patterson.
Detective Chief Inspector Dave Whellams, who led the murder investigation, said: "Arslan was obsessed with Hina to the point that he told people they were engaged and said they should have children together. This relationship was completely in his mind.
“Our investigation showed that Arslan was unable to live with the fact Hina did not want to be with him. It was this rejection that tragically led to her death.”
Arslan, wearing a blue prison-issue jumper, stared at the floor as he was jailed for life.
