The bleeding body of a young woman who rejected a forced marriage was rolled up in a filthy rug overnight in this squalid house of her crooked uncle.
Racks of tools line the wall in the cluttered and grimy living room of Mohammed Taroos Khan’s shipping container residence in Bradford.
Furious that his niece, Somaiya Begum, rejected her father’s arranged marriage to her cousin in Pakistan when she was 16, and enraged at her growing Westernization, he ruthlessly slaughtered the biomedical student four years later.
The living room of killer uncle Mohammed Taroos Khan’s shipping container lair in Bradford
The murderer, 53, kept the place in squalid conditions and kept his niece’s corpse there
For his own safety, Somaiya, 20, was living with his grandmother and another uncle, under a court-ordered protection against forced marriage.
It was at his beloved grandmother’s alleged safe house that Khan, 52, found his niece – and plunged a four-inch metal spike into her back, puncturing her lung.
The sharp carpentry tool was found embedded in his decomposed body when police finally located him on a vacant lot, after a two-week search for the missing student.
Khan denied the murder at Bradford Court Crown, but was found guilty of the ‘traumatic’ attack and sentenced to 25 years in prison on Wednesday.
Despite the long prison sentence, Khan insisted he would continue to pay his £240 rent for the cramped metal box where he lived, apparently under the impression that he will need the premises again.
These interior photos – obtained by MailOnline and taken with the owner’s consent – provide a chilling snapshot into Khan’s existence and the brief resting place of his tragic niece.
Mohammed Taroos Khan who was found guilty at Bradford Crown Court of murdering his 20-year-old niece Somaiya Begum
He had rented two storage containers in an industrial unit just a mile from the murder scene and one above them where he lived.
A single bed is visible inside the “portable” office-style container, which measures approximately 9 feet wide and 30 feet long.
The landlord, who declined to be named, said Khan was still paying £240 a month in rent for his accommodation.
He said: “I got a call from Mr Khan in January and told him I could bring someone else in, but he said no.” He said he would ask his lawyer to reimburse the rent.
“He started renting the storage containers for his tools, then one day said he needed to rent the one upstairs to live in.”
Innocent Somaiya’s body was dumped on a vacant lot where it was found decomposed 11 days later
Khan insisted on continuing to pay his £240-a-month rent to keep his house
The metal box on top was where Khan lived with his tools kept in the structures below
Khan’s hope of returning to one of the crime scenes stands in stark contrast to his hero brother Dawood, who testified against him in court.
Somaiya lived with her uncle Dawood and her grandmother after leaving her parents’ home two years ago under the forced marriage protection order.
She moved in after her own father tried to force her to marry a cousin “under threat of violence”.
But that safe haven was breached when Khan fatally attacked her there on June 25 last year.
Now neighbors at the property say a heartbroken Dawood can’t go back.
It is believed that Somaiya’s grandmother now lives alone and is sometimes visited by another son who does not live there.
Mahmood Hussain, who lives a few doors down, said: “He felt responsible for Somaiya. He hasn’t been home since it happened.
Mahmood Hussain, 44, outside his home in Bradford, who lives along Binnie Street a few doors down from where Somaiya lived
Somaiya’s house, which his hero, Uncle Dawood, had to leave because of his grief
“He hasn’t been able to cope since it all happened. It’s a shame because he’s the nicest guy.
Mr Hussain, 44, said the first time he learned of Somaiya’s disappearance was when Dawood frantically knocked on her door asking to check her CCTV footage because she was missing .
He had no idea his brother had sneaked in using a set of wrenches he had cut while he slept and stuck an 11cm long tip of a tool in his workshop into Somaiya’s back. .
Bradford Crown Court heard he had probably strangled her, but the exact course of death could not be established due to the decomposition of her body, which was ‘discarded like rubbish’ on a vacant lot.
He added: “No one deserves to die like this. He deserves life in prison.
“It must have been because of the arranged marriage, I can’t think of any other reason.”
“Nobody deserves to die like that. He deserves life in prison. You don’t kill someone for that. It’s terrible.’
No victim impact statement was read in court by family members, but Dawood Khan said in evidence: ‘She was a blessing to have around the house and I couldn’t fault her. She was the light of my life.
Another neighbour, who wished to remain anonymous, said he came across as a “genuine and kind man”.
She said: “The uncle left the house right away, but his mother is still there.
“I heard he was having a nervous breakdown, he took it very badly.
“He was really genuine. He was really adorable and thought of her a lot. I think he thought she was his responsibility.
“The family was very quiet and never talked much, but he always seemed nice.
“It’s devastating to know what happened to her. You would never see her outside.
“She had freedom, but she just went to college and worked. She was very focused on her studies, it’s a shame.
A third neighbour, who only gave his name as Abdul, said he had known Khan since they were young men, but that Khan had “suddenly changed” around 25 years ago.
He said: “He was fine when he was younger, we never had a problem and there were never any problems. But suddenly, he just changed.
“I don’t know what was wrong with him, but he wasn’t the same anymore.
‘He was very calm, but you never thought he would do such a thing.
“Since the murder, the grandmother no longer answers the door. Relatives come to see her and sometimes take her shopping, but they call when they arrive and she opens the door.
I haven’t seen Dawood since it happened. He just left the house and hasn’t come back.
Mohammad Taroos Khan lived in the house, in Binnie Street, Bradford, before he was given an injunction after being found guilty of assaulting his own daughter.
He held a knife to her throat and threatened to “cut her,” his murder trial said.
