Father murdered baby he thought was ‘possessed’

A SCHOOL adviser who worked closely with police was jailed for life yesterday for torturing and killing his baby because he thought she was possessed.

Sitab Ullah, 26, from London, was on Wednesday found guilty of murdering his three-month-old daughter, Samira.

Ullah had been a pillar of his community until the death of his father, which made him turn to drugs, Bob Marshall-Andrews QC, defending, told the court.

Jailing him for a minimum term of 20 years yesterday, Judge Stephen Kramer said: “You abused your role as a father.”

Ullah had made sure no one from the outside world saw Samira after she returned home from hospital. He and his wife, Salma Begum, avoided two appointments with health visitors.

“It appears from the evidence that you thought she was, or might have been, possessed by evil spirits as a consequence of your drug habit,” the judge said.

Begum, 25, has pleaded guilty to child neglect.

The premature baby, who weighed only 8lbs, died after being found in Ullah’s arms in a blood-covered bedroom.

Begum told the court Ullah was taking heroin and crack cocaine daily and becoming paranoid.

Samira had cigarette burns on her body, broken ribs, and her wrists and ankles were twisted and torn as she was swung around and shaken.

She died on October 16 last year after her skull was smashed into a hard surface.

A pathologist said the brain injury was the worst he had seen.

Giving evidence behind a screen, Begum wept as she said: “He started to think she was possessed by the ghost or a spirit.

“He didn’t want me to feed her too much. He complained she was becoming greedy because he thought the thing inside her wanted to be fed all the time. I saw him pinch her nipples. I asked him not to do it, so he flicked her foot instead. He was saying he was not hurting her. He was hurting the thing inside her.”

Begum said Ullah had shaken the baby on the day she died, and then gone out for chicken and chips.

Richard Whittam, prosecuting, said Samira had fractures which dated back to when she was allowed to go home from hospital in August last year.

There were blood spots on the walls, door frame, ceiling and chimney breast of the bedroom she shared with her parents, he said.

Det Sgt Patrick Barnes said: “In 26 years as a detective, this is the worst case of systematic torture I have seen.”