A man who stabbed his wife 36 times after she recorded his violent abuse on her phone has been jailed for a minimum of 21 years. Asim Hasan attacked his wife Aaisha accusing her of cheating on him - when it was in fact him who was having an affair.
He was this afternoon jailed for life with a minimum of 21 years. Hasan stabbed Aaisha 36 times at the family home in Canning Town, east London, on May 19 2022. The 33-year-old denied meaning to seriously hurt his 34-year-old wife but was found guilty of murder after an Old Bailey jury deliberated for just half an hour.
On Thursday, Judge Anthony Leonard KC jailed Hasan for life with a minimum term of 21 years. The court had heard how the couple had rowed over money, Hasan’s behaviour and his accusation that she was having an affair.
Mrs Hasan was so scared of her husband that she began recording him on her phone and shared her fears with friends on WhatsApp. In a folder on her phone labelled “Hidden”, she stored images, including of a black eye and cuts to her face, taken after Hasan was violent in February and April 2022 and 11 days before she died.
On May 9, she sent a “desperate” WhatsApp message to friends saying “he would have killed me” if they had been alone in the house. Mrs Hasan wrote: “I don’t want to call the police on him coz this can get him into serious trouble. I just want him out the house now. I don’t feel safe.”
The next day, Hasan continued to accuse her of “cheating” despite her repeated denials, according to one recording. A neighbour alerted police but, because Mrs Hasan appeared well and made no complaint, the matter was not taken further, the jury was told.
In another recording, Mrs Hasan accused her husband of hitting her and said: “The next time you will kill me. The next time you will kill me, I don’t want that.” On the morning of May 19, Hasan called 999 and told the operator: “I just stabbed my wife.”
Mrs Hasan suffered 36 wounds in the “ferocious and really quite savage attack”, prosecutor Joel Smith said. One stab was inflicted with such force it “cut a wedge of bone” from her skull, he added.
Police and paramedics arrived at the couple’s home to find Mrs Hasan lying on the kitchen floor in a pool of blood, and she was pronounced dead at 7.20am. A black-handled kitchen knife, which the defendant allegedly used, was found on the cooker.
After his arrest Hasan said: “I am guilty and you can charge me.” Mr Smith had told jurors that, in a “cruel twist”, Hasan was the one looking to have an extramarital affair, contacting a woman on a Muslim dating site days before his wife’s death.
