Facebook relationship led to acid attack

[Al-khiyal]

Acid attack victim 'targeted over affair with woman he met on Facebook'

April 14, 2010 -- A Facebook user was disfigured in a revenge-fuelled acid attack over his intimate relationship with a married woman he met online, a court heard today. Awais Akram, 25, looked like a 'cross between a zombie from a horror movie and the Incredible Hulk' after the assault in July last year, jurors were told. Mr Akram was left burned and bleeding from his nose and eyes and with flesh hanging off his body, prosecutor David Markham said. A 'high pitched scream rang out' as he was set upon by a group of men in the early hours of the morning in Leytonstone, east London, the Old Bailey heard.

Danish-born Mr Akram was allegedly targeted after his liaison with Sadia Khatoon was discovered by her husband and family. It was she who helped to lay a 'deadly trap', said Mr Markham, luring him to the scene of the attack 'whether willingly or under some pressure from those who discovered the relationship'. Mr Akram was stabbed and beaten as well as having sulphuric acid poured on him during the 'pre-meditated and murderous assault', the court heard. The victim was left with 47 per cent burns and jurors were shown graphics of the extent of his injuries. 'Those are injuries which transformed his appearance,' Mr Markham said.

It is alleged that Khatoon's brother Mohammed Vakas, 26, and her cousin Mohammed Adeel, 20, planned to kill him 'as an act of revenge' for his relationship with her, and a 17-year-old youth was also recruited to the plot. Adeel and Vakas, both of Walthamstow, north east London, and the teenager, who cannot be named, deny conspiring with Khatoon and her husband Shakeel Abassi to murder Mr Akram. Vakas has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm with intent, a charge his two co-defendants deny, jurors were told. Khatoon and Abassi were last known to be in Pakistan, Mr Markham said.

The court heard that Mr Akram formed an online relationship with British-born Khatoon in March or April last year and they would later meet at her home in Walthamstow while her husband was out. 'The friendship was not platonic,' said Mr Markham. 'There was a degree of physical intimacy between the couple. It appears that he and Sadia in particular took some risks in terms of where they met and the amount of calls between them, that the relationship would become known to her husband and her wider family.'

The court heard Mr Akram travelled to Pakistan and got married in May 2009 and said it was not until shortly before that when he learned Khatoon was married. He later returned to Britain without his wife, who had no visa, and told Khatoon he wanted to go back to Denmark, but she said she wanted to meet up with him in Pakistan and would buy him a ticket, the court heard. It was arranged that he would stay in a room in Leytonstone for a week before the trip, jurors were told. In the early hours of July 2 she called him and told him to go to an internet cafe and print out an electronic flight ticket to Pakistan, the court heard, which he did even though a friend who was with him said none were open. 'That proved to be a fateful decision,' said Mr Markham.

She claimed that she was with her mother in Watford but in fact was at a hotel near Heathrow Airport with her husband Abassi at the time, it is alleged. Mr Akram was on the phone providing a 'running commentary' to her on where he was walking before he 'walked into a trap' and was subjected to a 'savage attack' by a group of men, the court heard. He saw a man with a mask and thought he was being robbed, and dropped his mobile phone before being struck to the floor and beaten, jurors were told, and he then saw a bottle. Mr Markham said: 'His attackers tried to pour sulphuric acid down his throat as Mr Akram covered his mouth. 'This was no robbery or attempted robbery. It was a very different order of crime indeed, conducted with an intention to kill.'

A witness had seen four men encircle the victim and one nearby resident heard a 'high-pitched scream'. Another looked out of her window and shouted at them to leave him alone before they ran off, and the victim shuffled away, jurors heard. Mr Markham said: "Mr Akram was to be seen by witnesses in the area immediately after the attack seeking help and in a terrible physical state, bleeding and burned with flesh hanging off his upper torso. Another witness was to see the victim as he begged for help, with his clothes in tatters and literally falling off him from the acid and blood coming from his nose and eyes and covering his bare chest. The witness told police the figure looked like a cross between a zombie from a horror movie and the Incredible Hulk." The trial was adjourned until tomorrow.

[Al-khiyal]

Men guilty of 'web affair' revenge acid attack

May 10, 2010 -- Three men have been found guilty of dousing a man with petrol over his relationship with a married woman. Awais Akram, 25, was disfigured in the attack, in Leytonstone, last July, for a relationship with Sadia Khatoon, 24. Her brother Mohammed Vakas, 26, of Walthamstow, was found guilty of conspiracy to murder. Mohammed Adeel, 20 and a 17-year-old boy were cleared of conspiracy to murder and found guilty of conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm.

The court heard that Mr Akram of Walthamstow, met Ms Khatoon, also from that area, on Facebook and online messenger service MSN. When Mrs Khatoon's husband Shakeel Abassi found out about the online conversations, he got his wife to lure the victim out of his flat, where concentrated sulphuric acid was poured over his head. The jury was told that during the attack the men received instructions from Mr Abassi, 32, who was in a hotel room near Heathrow with his wife. Mrs Khatoon and her husband later disappeared in Pakistan and detectives said they now feared for her safety.

Danish-born Mr Akram cried as he gave evidence at the trial, saying he was in so much pain at the time that he wanted to die. "My whole body started to burn," he said. He suffered 47% burns during the attack in which he was also beaten and stabbed. Mr Akram was also left blind in his right eye, suffered facial fractures and had to have both ears amputated.

Prosecutor David Markham said: "A witness was to see the victim as he begged for help, with his clothes in tatters and literally falling off him from the acid and blood coming from his nose and eyes and covering his bare chest. "The witness told police the figure looked like a cross between a zombie from a horror movie and the Incredible Hulk." The 91%-strength acid that caused the injuries was likely to have been from a bottle of "Give It One Shot" drain cleaner which was found nearby, the court heard.

Speaking about the relationship, Mr Akram said they ended up seeing each other nearly every day and, although it did not go beyond kisses and touching, it was clear to him she "did not want to have sexual relations". Mrs Khatoon was jealous about his plans to go to Pakistan to get married but the wedding went ahead in May, the court heard. She gave him some money for a flight back to Britain without his new bride, who did not have a visa. Mrs Khatoon set him up in a flat in Leytonstone before suggesting they should get together in Pakistan and offering to pay for his journey. In the early hours of 2 July she called him and told him to go to an internet cafe to print out an e-ticket and he walked into the trap, the Old Bailey was told.

Police hailed the victim's bravery in coming forward to give evidence against his attackers despite being deeply traumatised by what happened. One officer described Mr Akram as an "incredible young man".

[Al-khiyal]

Sulphuric acid attacker who left man looking like 'zombie' is jailed for 30 years

May 11, 2010 -- The brother of a married woman who plotted to kill her boyfriend in an horrific acid attack for 'dishonouring' the family was jailed for 30 years today. Awais Akram was left looking like a 'zombie' after being lured into a trap by his married lover Sadia Khatoon, 24, who he had met on Facebook. Her brother, Mohammed Vakas, 26, maimed Mr Akram by pouring drain cleaner over him. Mohammed Adeel, 20, and a 17-year-old Kosovan friend named Fabion Kuci also took part in the attack.

Vakas had discovered his sister Khatoon was seeing Mr Akram, 25, after also meeting him on the social networking website. Khatoon's husband Shakeel Abassi also found out about Mr Akram and all three took revenge on the victim, with the help of Adeel and the teenager. Police suspect the married couple plotted to kill Mr Akram, before fleeing the country to Pakistan where they are still in hiding. Vakas tried to pour the sulphuric acid drain cleaner down his throat but the victim covered his mouth with his hand and it was thrown over his face and body. Mr Akram suffered 47 per cent burns, needed four skin grafts and blood transfusions to survive, and was left looking 'like a cross between a zombie from a horror movie and the Incredible Hulk'. He faces years more of surgery and treatment and struggles to leave the house alone.

Vakas was convicted of conspiracy to murder after a five-week trial at the Old Bailey and jailed for 30 years. Adeel and Kuci were cleared of conspiracy to murder but convicted of conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm. Adeel was jailed for 14 years and Kuci was given an eight-year sentence to be served in a young offenders' institute. Kuci can be named for the first time today after a court order banning his identification was lifted. Detectives have said they will continue to search for Khatoon and Abassi and have not ruled out the possibility she has been killed in Pakistan.

Jailing the men the Common Serjeant of London Judge Brian Barker QC said: 'The facts of this case are horrifying. This was a remorseless and heartless plan, it was to punish and to kill Awais Akram in the most cruel and sadistic way. The reason, although not spelt out by any of you, can be deduced as the unacceptable relationship with Sadia Khatoon and the victim Awais Akram. This was deemed to bring dishonour to her husband and both families. He didn't die but his suffering then and since is almost impossible to imagine. He was left in a living nightmare. On any view this was totally unacceptable behaviour.' The judge said Khatoon and Abassi were 'central to the plot and should have been in the dock'.

Khatoon began a relationship with Mr Akram four-months before the attack. She lived in Walthamstow with Abassi and worked with her brother Vakas at a family business in Leyton, CTS UK, providing an English language course for foreign nationals applying for leave to stay in the country. She first met Mr Akram through the business, but began an affair with him through Facebook. When the relationship was discovered she told Mr Akram, she wanted to start a new life with him in Pakistan. Khatoon lured him into the ambush by saying she wanted him to print off a flight ticket at an internet cafe.

Giving evidence screened from the dock and public gallery Danish-born Mr Akram told jurors how Mrs Khatoon had seen his pictures on the social networking website in March last year. He then sent her a message and she replied, sparking an exchange of emails MSN messages and phone calls. They would drive to car parks near apartment blocks in Plaistow or by Forest Gate station. Secret meetings would first last around 50 minutes but this increased to up to three hours and would take place nearly every day. Within a week she agreed to meet Mr Akram at his address in Elmhurst Road, Upton Park, east London. He later moved to Leytonstone with the help of Khatoon, who also promised him work.

Speaking with the help of an Urdu interepreter he told how was attacked by up to seven men as he made his way home along Marchant Road, Leytonstone. Mr Akram, who remains heavily scarred, with much of his hair burnt away and both his ears almost destroyed, told the court 'When they were beating me up I had become quite unconscious and as this person came in front of me he had a bottle in his hand. He was standing right in front of me and was telling me "open your mouth, open your mouth". I had covered my mouth. He spilt it on top of my head. I was in such a state I couldn't really see. I kept on saying "why are you hitting me, what have I done?".'

Mr Akram was seen staggering in the street 'bleeding and burned with flesh hanging off his upper torso'. A witness said he looked like 'a cross between a zombie from a horror movie and the Incredible Hulk.' Vakas and Adeel, both of Walthamstow, and Kuci, of Harlesden, denied conspiracy to murder between May 31 and July 3 2009. Vakas had admitted the lesser charge conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm with intent before the trial started.